Legislative Budget Office

The Legislative Budget Office (LBO) is a nonpartisan office within the legislative branch of Minnesota state government. The LBO is charged with objectively evaluating proposed legislation to assess the potential impact on the state budget. The products of this work are known as fiscal notes and local impact notes. State agencies provide the data estimating the proposed legislation's impact for a fiscal note. Data used to develop local impact notes is provided by local entities and associations of local entity professionals, as well as state agencies. LBO staff review this information to assess accuracy, reasonableness and compliance with fiscal note policies and standards prior to submission to the legislature.

In 2021, the Minnesota Legislature enacted a law establishing the Tax Expenditure Review Commission. The LBO provides professional and technical support to the Tax Expenditure Review Commission, which submits an annual written report to the legislature.

In 2026, the Minnesota Legislature created the Education Group Insurance Program Report. To facilitate the report, the Legislative Budget Office is required to send an annual survey regarding health insurance costs to all school districts and charter schools in the state. The LBO compiles the information from that survey into the required report each year and provides that report to the committees with jurisdiction over education and health insurance.