Minnesota’s budget commissioner is leaving, deputy to lead agency

The leader of the Minnesota Department of Management and Budget is leaving and his deputy will step in as the agency’s new commissioner.

Gov. Tim Walz announced Wednesday that Jim Schowalter will depart his post on Aug. 14. His latest tenure at the agency dates to September 2020 and he also led Minnesota Management and Budget under Gov. Mark Dayton.

Minnesota Management and Budget Commissioner Jim Schowalter discusses the state’s budget and economic forecast Monday, Feb. 27, 2023 at the Department of Revenue building in St. Paul. The forecast shows the state continues to have higher than expected tax collections and projects a $17.5 billion budget surplus. (Christopher Magan / Pioneer Press)

Erin Campbell, currently deputy commissioner, will begin leading the agency Aug. 15. The department is responsible for overseeing the state’s finances and supports more than 100 government agencies with more than 56,000 workers.

“There is critical work ahead to retain and hire the workforce of the future, to ensure the state remains on strong fiscal footing, and to support our colleagues in state agencies as they implement recently enacted legislation,” Campbell said in the statement announcing her appointment. “I am excited to get started.”

Campbell has held various government leadership roles and also worked under Dayton who called her “one of the smartest and hardest working people I know.” Walz noted her 20 years in state government, saying she’s a “talented, dedicated, and tireless public servant.”

Schowalter leaves as Minnesota’s longest-serving MMB commissioner. He rejoined the agency at the height of the coronavirus pandemic when state finances faced serious uncertainty.

“​I couldn’t imagine a more important role or time to serve the state than these past three years,” Schowalter said, noting he led the agency while the state “moved from fiscal crisis to a record surplus.”

Minnesota lawmakers completed the record $71.5 billion two-year state budget in May. The 38 percent increase in state spending is largely funded by a historic $17.5 billion budget surplus.

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