Peter Hutchinson

Public Budgeting Through Transparent Priority Setting

An interview in the series: “How to Restore Faith in Our Minnesota Institutions”

May 27, 2025

Featuring: Peter Hutchinson, former Minnesota commissioner of finance, deputy mayor of Minneapolis, superintendent of Minneapolis Public Schools, and public service innovator

Present: Paul Ostrow (moderator), Tom Horner, Lee Munnich, Feven Tesfaye, Samhita Krishnamurthy

Summary

Peter Hutchinson believes the key to restoring trust in government lies in changing how it thinks about its core mission. Rather than focusing on how much to tax and spend, Hutchinson urges policymakers to ask: What outcomes are we delivering to the people we serve? Drawing on decades of leadership — from Minneapolis City Hall to the governor’s race — he called for budgeting that puts citizens first, delivers measurable results, and respects the public's willingness to pay.

Hutchinson emphasized outcome-based budgeting, transparent decision-making, and youth engagement as critical levers to rebuild civic trust. He highlighted success stories from Minnesota to Washington State, where public institutions delivered results by prioritizing what mattered to everyday people.

Background

Peter Hutchinson has spent his professional life at the intersection of innovation and public service. A native Minnesotan, his career spans leadership as deputy mayor of Minneapolis, Minnesota commissioner of finance, superintendent of Minneapolis Public Schools, and co-founder of Public Strategies Group. In 2006, he ran for governor as an independent, championing a new vision for nonpartisan reform. He now leads Peter Hutchinson Public Service Design and continues to advocate for public sector transformation through writing, consulting, and civic engagement.

Discussion

What’s wrong with how governments budget today?
Hutchinson didn’t mince words: government budgeting is broken because it’s focused on taxing and spending, not on delivering value. “People ask, ‘How much should we spend?’ and then, ‘How much should we tax?’ That’s backwards,” he said. Instead, governments should ask: What services and results do we want to deliver, and how much are people willing to pay for them? Hutchinson argued that people across the political spectrum distrust government because it doesn’t deliver meaningful results.

Can we rebuild trust when politics feels so broken?
Despite today’s polarization, Hutchinson remains hopeful. He noted that deep public dissatisfaction creates an opening for reform. “Nobody trusts government — on the right or the left,” he said. “That’s an opportunity.” He shared examples from Governors Tom Vilsack of Iowa and Gary Locke of Washington, who focused on outcomes, not ideology, and earned broad support, even from divided legislatures. “Deliver for people, and they’ll give you the room to lead,” Hutchinson said.

Why start local?
When asked whether reform should begin at the federal or local level, Hutchinson was clear: “Start local.” City and county governments are closest to the people, he said, and deal in direct, visible services: plowed streets, functioning schools, reliable transit. It’s at this level, he argued, where budgeting reforms can have the greatest and most immediate impact.

How do we address education’s crisis of results?
As former superintendent of Minneapolis Public Schools, Hutchinson brought a candid insider perspective. He warned that school boards spend too much time managing adult concerns and not enough on student achievement. “We analyzed it; 70% of board time wasn’t focused on students.” He called for honest conversations about why schools fail to teach kids to read despite increased spending. His solution: involve students in decision-making and demand accountability for educational outcomes, not just expenditures.

What role should youth play?
Hutchinson was inspired by the student leaders on the interview panel, Samhita Krishnamurthy and Feven Tesfaye. He encouraged them to challenge adults in power and remind them who the system is supposed to serve. “Show up and ask: ‘What outcome are we getting for this money?’” he said. “You don’t need all the answers, just keep asking the right questions.”

What about public scandals like Feeding Our Future?
Hutchinson called the fraud scandal that stole millions of Minnesota tax dollars intended to feed children “devastating” for public trust. But he warned against over-correcting with bureaucratic paralysis. “We can’t make it so hard to spend money that we stop feeding kids,” he said. Instead, governments must pair clear performance contracts with basic monitoring. “It’s not nuclear physics. Go see if the site feeding 5,000 kids even exists.”

What gives you hope?
Despite the dysfunction, Hutchinson believes most people want what government can deliver: safety, education, health care, opportunity. He urged leaders to stop chasing cultural flashpoints and start delivering real results. “People are desperate for their schools to work, desperate to not fear growing old. That hasn’t changed.”

Final Thoughts

Hutchinson left the panel with a challenge and a reminder. “When government runs a deficit, they’re spending your money,” he told the student panelists. “You’ll pay for today’s choices. Demand to know what you’re getting for it.”

He closed by calling budgets “everything and nothing” — just numbers on paper, unless they're linked to meaningful goals. “Budgets are contracts. They say what we care about. If we don’t ask what we’re getting for the money, we’ve failed.”