Minnesota government shuts down
Minnesota’s government shut down at midnight local time Friday after six months of negotiations between Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton and the state’s Republican-controlled legislature failed to produce a budget compromise.At a late-night capitol press conference attended by the very GOP legislators with which Dayton was sparring, the governor blamed Republicans for refusing to budge from a no-tax increase position.
“They would prefer to protect the richest handful of Minnesotans at the expense of everyone else,” Dayton said. “Instead of taxing their friends, they would prefer very damaging cuts to healthcare, public safety, mass transit” and other state services.
Dayton a former senator elected in 2010, and GOP legislative leaders, who seized power in the 2010 GOP electoral wave, remain $1.4 billion apart in talks to close the state’s $5 billion budget deficit. Dayton said Republicans have refused to consider his initial proposal to raise income taxes on the top 2 percent of earners or a later suggestion to increase taxes on people who make $1 million or more — a group he said totals 7,700 in a state of 5.3 million people.
“I deeply regret that the last week of intense negotiations … have failed to bridge the divide between us,” Dayton said at a late-night capitol press conference. “Our major difference remains the same.”
The house speaker, Mike Zellers, who earlier in the evening led his GOP colleagues into an evening sit-in in their chamber despite no ongoing negotiations with the governor, said Dayton “threw in the towel,” the Star Tribune of Minneapolis reported.
“This is about shutting down government for a political purpose,” Zellers said. “This is going to I think be one of those moments in our state’s history that we’ll look back on and be very disappointed [with]”
Republican lawmakers this week proposed a “lights-on” bill that would have kept state government functioning for 10 days while lawmakers worked out a budget deal. Dayton rejected the deal, saying he won’t agree to any deal until a “global agreement” on the budget could be reached.
“I take that as a publicity stunt, to try and shift the blame from their responsibility,” he said, eliciting boos and groans from Republican lawmakers and staffers in attendance at his press conference.
The shut-down came after a dramatic night that included a surprise press conference from Dayton’s predecessor, the now Republican presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty, who spoke outside a ticket booth at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
Pawlenty, who presided over a similar state government shutdown in 2005, blamed Dayton and Democrats for this year’s version and urged Republicans to hold strong on their no-taxes position.
Low-income children who received subsidized childcare will be left out in the cold, with state-subsidized daycare deemed a non-essential service.
The shutdown will be particularly aggravating for travelers on the July 4th weekend. Rest stops along highways will be padlocked, state parks off limits and the Minnesota Zoo in suburban Apple Valley closed to the public during a typically busy long weekend.
The zoo has been instructed to continue feeding animals and ensure animals don’t escape, but will take a substantial financial hit on one of its most popular weekends of the year.
Road construction is now halted at the height of the construction season, which will cause cascading delays in road work and extra costs. Road projects are usually on tight schedules and involve several layers of subcontractors – which means some construction has already started shutting down in anticipation of the shutdown.
For example, contractors were supposed to demolish a bridge over Highway 169 in Minnetonka last weekend but put off the project because the state Department of Transportation announced that it would halt all construction projects in the event of a shutdown. Delays could cost the $15 million project up to $3 million more, said Minnetonka’s city manager, John Gunyou.
Professional licensing for everyone from physicians to archaeologists to animal chiropractors will also tabled until the budget is resolved.
Other state residents hoping to spend some time at the horse racing tracks will find themselves turned away at the gates due to the government impasse. Indeed, the Minnesota Racing Commission has been determined to be a non-essential service – and without the regulatory authority operating, the tracks will be closed down.
“This is going to be a tough shutdown, and people will notice,” said Dayton’s attorney, David Lillehaug, “Anyone who says that government doesn’t do anything and doesn’t do it well, upon reading this order… they’re going to realize they’re very, very wrong.”
A judge ruled Thursday that only critical state functions such as the State Patrol, prison guards, and disaster response officials would remain operational. The governor and the state legislature would retain skeleton crews of staff, and state payments to cities, counties and schools would continue. The judge also ordered that welfare, food stamp and Medicaid health care programs should continue operating.
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