Johnson would also like to see an increase in state aid to cities, particularly those like St. Peter which were left out of a 2005 appropriation. And she’d support more funding for education from early childhood to higher education.

Hottinger would focus any available funds on the sliding-fee child-care subsidies which have been slashed severely during the deficit years. About 30,000 kids who would have previously been eligible for a child-care slot have been left without because of the cuts, he said.

It’s first things first for Rep. John Dorn. The spending shifts need to be corrected.

“In bad times, when we do shifts and maneuvers, they ultimately have to be paid back,” said Dorn, DFL-Mankato. “(The surplus) will have to go towards paying some of the past-due bills.”

In addition to the forecast for the 2006-07 budget, economists provided a glimpse at the next two-year budget period. While the “planning estimates” for 2008-09 officially show a $1.2 billion surplus, the economists warn that the Legislature passed a law prohibiting the forecasters from considering inflation in estimating costs for a future biennium.

If the inflation factor is included, the surplus shrinks to $324 million for those years.