Still No End To Minn. Shutdown; Budget Not Done
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- Minnesota's state government shutdown slid toward the three-week mark on Monday as key Republican legislators and members of Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton's administration scurried to translate a handshake budget deal into bills that can pass the GOP-controlled Legislature.
Legislative leaders insisted that an end to the shutdown remains within reach this week, but finishing nine budget bills and a construction financing package was taking longer than hoped when the deal was announced last Thursday. Negotiators worked through the weekend and continued Monday as the government closure reached its 18th day.
The shutdown has idled 22,000 state workers, stopped road projects, closed state parks and suspended programs ranging from two state-regulated racetracks to some services for the disabled. Even the flow of alcohol to bars and liquor stores isn't immune, after a judge on Monday refused to deem state-issued permission cards for wholesale liquor purchases an essential service.
House Speaker Kurt Zellers and Deputy Senate Majority Leader Geoff Michel said they still expect to line up enough GOP votes to pass the bills, but several rank-and-file lawmakers were noncommittal about a deal that relies on $1.4 billion in borrowing from schools and tobacco settlement funds to help erase a $5 billion deficit.
"It's a tough sell for a lot of people," said Sen. Michelle Benson, a first-term Republican from Ham Lake. "I'm looking at what it does structurally going forward. We've gotten a lot of bad one-time fixes that make things worse down the road."
Asked whether all the budget bills would clear the Senate, Michel said, "I don't want to jinx it. People need to see the bills -- I get that."
Republicans began posting the first budget bills online Monday, including a road spending package and funding for public safety programs and the courts. Other agreements were reached on spending for the environment and under the "Legacy Amendment" for the outdoors and the arts. All of it's happening behind closed doors, but Dayton's office said Monday the governor has ordered the Capitol to reopen to the public at 9 a.m. Tuesday in advance of a special session, to "allow public access and transparency as the Legislature prepares to reconvene to pass a budget."
Zellers predicted his caucus would mostly fall together behind the budget bills, but said it was understandable that lawmakers needed time to read them first.
Among those withholding judgment was first-term Rep. King Banaian, a St. Cloud Republican who beat a Democrat by 13 votes last year.
"Until I see a spreadsheet, I don't want to commit myself one way or another," he said.
He added: "I think there's a lot of people looking at it and saying `Are we just delaying the moment of decision by a couple of years?"'
Dayton, who has sole power to call a special session, has made it clear he won't do so until he agrees with the finer points of all the bills.
"There's a sense of urgency to finishing the final negotiations as soon as possible," said gubernatorial spokeswoman Katie Tinucci. "As soon as those are wrapped up we'll call the special session. The proclamation is ready."
One of the hang-ups was a public schools spending package where Dayton and Republicans had disagreed sharply about proposals to eliminate racial integration aid and curb teacher bargaining rights. Dayton had stipulated as part of the overall deal that contentious policy matters be removed from spending bills, but that didn't stop new problems from emerging.
One group of advocates pushed to spare charter schools from a $700 million delay in state aid payments to schools, saying charters would face much higher short-term borrowing costs than conventional districts.
Brian Sweeney, director of external affairs for Charter School Partners, said Republicans were supportive but Dayton was not. Sweeney's group planned to rally on the steps outside the governor's office Tuesday.
"It is a gross inequity," he said.
One of the key House negotiators said the overall philosophical divide between lawmakers and Dayton remains, even as she said the budget remains doable.
"We're more done than not," House Ways and Means Committee Chairwoman Mary Liz Holberg said. "But it's always the last few pieces that are the hardest to fit in."
Meanwhile, some bars and liquor stores remained unable to buy alcohol Monday when a Ramsey County judge refused to call back state workers who process state-issued permission cards to buy liquor. Chief Judge Kathleen Gearin denied a petition from the state alcohol lobby.
About 300 bars, restaurants and liquor stores already have run out of permission to purchase alcohol because of expired buyer's cards, and the cards for another 400 establishments expire on Aug. 1. A court-appointed referee recommended against calling back the state workers even as she acknowledged it could hurt -- and possibly close -- some businesses. Gearin said she may revisit the issue next week if the shutdown hasn't ended.
Chicago-based MillerCoors LLC was also facing licensing issues related to the shutdown and a warning to remove its products from Minnesota stores and bars, but a spokesman said the company had no immediate plans to do so or to pursue legal action.
"We don't foresee having that issue now that the shutdown appears to be coming to a conclusion," MillerCoors spokesman Julian Green said.
(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
