Fifty years later, is a Minnesota Miracle even imaginable? Times have changed, but bipartisan work shouldn t be impossible.
By Tom Berg Text size Copy shortlink:
Fifty years ago, in January 1971, a collection of ideas woven together by a group of citizens and revised by politicians was presented to the Minnesota Legislature by then-Gov. Wendell Anderson. Known at the time as the Fair School Financing Plan, the measure changed Minnesota s fiscal policy for decades.
Changing tax policy and revenue sharing formulas among governments is normally a subject of stirring interest only among nerds and policy wonks. But the proposed reforms became a key issue for everyone in the 1970 governor s race. And in 1971, enacting them led to the longest legislative session in Minnesota s history. The resulting legislation was quickly dubbed the Minnesota Miracle by national experts. Viewing all this through the lens of today s internet