House and Senate Democrats agreed to a bonding deal on Wednesday that includes $850 million of borrowing and $200 million of cash for public infrastructure, but Republicans necessary to pass the measure objected late into the night. The House is expected to take up the bill on Thursday.

Friday morning's news immediately inspired a number of proposals for what to do with the state's newly available funds.

1.) How to handle the projected budget surplus is among the issues most likely to divide elected Democrats in the coming months, and the various ...

The first 279 House bills of the 2014 legislative session are already on record, thanks to a pre-filing deadline earlier this month. Many of those bills find legislators eager to peel back last year’s new business taxes, while another stack bears witness to members’ best efforts to push pet capital investment projects to the front of the line.

After years of budgeting under the strain of current and future deficits, the November economic forecast continued Minnesota’s streak of glad tidings. The report, released Thursday, was the fifth straight (dating to November 2011) in which the state has projected a surplus for the current biennium. The November report predicts that the state will end the 2014-15 budget cycle with an $825 million net surplus.

Minnesota Management and Budget Commissioner Jim Schowaler said the Legislature and the administration should use a projected surplus to build up the state's reserve accounts.

The November economic forecast released Thursday projects that the state of Minnesota will end the current biennium with an $825 million surplus. In the immediate afterglow, one note of consensus among major players was that the news should be taken with cautious optimism – though each cited different reasons for doing so.

Minnesota budget officials said Thursday morning that economic predictors suggest the state will have a $1.08 billion balance for the 2014-2015 fiscal year. The numbers won't be final until the February economic forecast.

Rep. Kurt Zellers, R-Maple Grove, one of the GOP candidates hoping to challenge Dayton next year, has led the charge on the issue.

Minnesota Management and Budget Commissioner Jim Schowalter rejected calls from American Indian activists who were pushing for the delay of bond sales on the new Minnesota Vikings stadium, the Star Tribune reports. The activists are trying to get assurances that the word "Redskins," the' nickname for the Washington, D.C. NFL team, will not be displayed inside the stadium.