Politics & Government

Shutdown Showdown: State Leaders Spurred by Sense of Urgency

Meetings in recent days have been "productive." Will it be too little, too late? Or is an agreement on the horizon?

Gov. Mark Dayton and GOP lawmakers, including Sen. Amy Koch (R, Buffalo) met briefly on Monday to resume budget negotiations.
 
Session Daily reported that the two sides spoke for about an hour and reported little progress at the conclusion of the Monday meeting. It also said the parties tentatively scheduled a 9 a.m. meeting for this morning but there is no word yet as to the outcome of those talks.

GOP leaders and Dayton focused on health and human services spending at this morning's 9 a.m. meeting. According to Session Daily, Dayton said budget talks are moving forward, but was characteristically tight-lipped about how close they are to deal. Dayton called the Monday talks “constructive” and “cordial” but offered little else to indicate the likelihood of a shutdown.

If no compromise is reached, state services are scheduled to begin shutting down at 12:01 a.m. on Friday, July 1.

Department of Natural Resources
With the July 4 holiday weekend looming, one of the most immediate, and perhaps catastrophic, impacts of the shutdown will be felt by the the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

According to Albert Lea-based KIMT TV, this weekend more than 60,000 overnight campers and 340,000 day users are expected to use the DNR’s 67 parks across the state. In the event of a shutdown, those people and their money—an estimated $12 million per week—will go somewhere else.

According to the DNR, unless a budget compromise is reached, the parks will begin shutting down at 4 p.m. on June 30. The DNR website and Information Center services will be suspended and the administration expects to lay off most of its staff.

A reaction from DNR staff can be found , on an article that appeared on Patch last week. 


Metro Area response
In anticipation of the government shutdown Hennepin County yesterday issued layoff notices to around 1,300 of its 7,500 workforce.

The layoff notices—which span everything from unfinished construction projects to unfunded care at Hennepin County Medical Center—come with a 10-day waiting period before becoming effective. Hennepin County Administrator Richard P. Johnson hopes the notices can be rescinded, and the shutdown avoided, before that time.

Hennepin county is home to 1.2 million residents, employs 7,500 staff and has an annual operating budget of $1.6 billion.

Ramsey County has also begun taking steps to prepare for a potential shutdown.

In its June 14 meeting, County Commissioners directed County Manager Julie Kleinschmidt to “quantify and categorize” the impact of a state shutdown on Ramsey County.

Kleinschmidt’s full risk assessment can be found here.

Ramsey County is home to 501,000 residents, employs 4,000 staff and has an annual operating budget of $585 million.

Local news

Find out what's happening in St. Michaelwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Wright County coordinator Dick Norman said he has departments looking at what would be needed to survive a state shutdown. 

Immediately impacted would be the transportation department, which has a host of projects under its belt already this construction season, including the completion of the County Highway 12 project in the county seat of Buffalo. 

Find out what's happening in St. Michaelwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The County Road 34 project, also known as "Bebee Lake Road," will be bid in August. But that, too, could be delayed by a shutdown. 

Any projects with federal money - including the Interstate 94 project in Albertville - would be tabled, Norman told the Wright County Journal Press' Ed DuBois. 

State projects could continue, but private supervisors would have to be hired to replace state inspectors. 

Wright County has not sent layoff notices to employees, yet. 

Health and Human Services would also take a hit, should the shutdown begin at 12:01 a.m. Friday. 


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