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No movement on a budget deal
36,000 state workers ranging from transportation workers, prison guards, state patrol officers, license bureau clerks have begun receiving layoff notices which will go into effect on July 1st if the Governor and the legislature cannot end their stalemate and agree to a budget deal by then. Based on the lack of any progress this week, a shutdown seems more and more likely. There is a lot of confusion over what "vital" state services and which employees will be retained after July 1st. State officials and the courts will determine those that are deemed "essential". Read more,
The confusion is also seen in K-12 education as well. State law requires all school districts to have a 2011-12 budget approved by June 30th. Of course, that is very hard to do when state funding accounts for approximately 80% of a district's budget and we still aren't certain how much revenue districts will receive from the state. And thoughts also drift to the fall, if the shutdown continues into September will teachers and school staff be deemed essential or will the start of the school year be delayed?
None of the issues will change after July 1st. Minnesota will still have a $5 billion deficit. The Governor will still want to raise $1.8 billion by increasing income tax on the top 2% of Minnesota wage earners. The legislature will still want an all-cuts budget. This game of chicken which began months ago is not productive. A state shutdown is disruptive, expensive and unnecessary. Most Minnesotans expect their elected leaders to get their job done and find a way to compromise on a budget deal. |
The numbers game
$30 billion, $34 billion, $37 billion - what do we make of these numbers that the DFL Governor and the Republican controlled legislature use to defend their position? This short summary tries to lay it out in a simple, concise way. One point of clarification, the Republicans claim the $34 billion dollar budget they are proposing over the next biennium is a $4 billion increase over the previous two years when the state spent $30 billion. However, the cost to deliver the government services here in Minnesota was actually $34 billion. The state did indeed spend $30 billion but an additional $2 billion coming from one-time federal stimulus and $2 billion from holding back K-12 school payments (shifts) were also used to support the total spending. |
