Minnesota Governor's Proposed Biennial Operating Budget

Compiled by the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library

The Minnesota state budget operates on a two-year cycle, or biennium, covering two fiscal years. The structure and mechanisms of budgeting for the State of Minnesota are found in Article XI of Minnesota's Constitution. Minnesota Statutes 16A.11 requires that the governor submit a proposed state operating budget, including a budget message, to the Minnesota Legislature in January or February of odd-numbered years.

Following the release of the governor's proposed budget, the process moves to the Legislature. Appropriation bills are introduced in the legislature and make their way through the legislative process. The appropriations bills that are approved by the legislature and signed into law by the governor make up the state’s operating budget. The final operating budget does not appear in a single law but is made up of a number of separate appropriations laws. For more detailed information about Minnesota’s state budget, see the Legislative Library’s guide to the State Budget Process.

Below is a compilation of the proposed operating budget documents of Minnesota governors, beginning with the late 1990s. Included for each biennium are the original proposals for state agencies as well as updates and revisions to those proposals.