St. Michael - Albertville Area's Legislators Weigh in on Minnesota Shutdown

One is the most prominent female legislator in Minnesota. The other is a photographer from Delano who has steered his way through a rocky first session as a rookie lawmaker, only to find a stalemate at the end. 

The two individuals elected to represent eastern Wright County, including St. Michael and Albertville, have essentially the same ideals, but different positions in the state's political machine. 

Rep. Joe McDonald (R-Delano) weighed in on the 2011 shutdown with an opinion article released to Wright County news outlets and local constituents. 

"He went back on his word and shut down the state," McDonald wrote. "And for what? A recent KSTP/Survey USA poll indicates only 8 percent of Minnesotans support spending to Dayton's level." 

That level is about $1.8 billion higher than that proposed by the Republican-controlled Legislature. 

Friday, Koch said she was "deeply disappointed" in the shutdown, and that the negotiations held over the last week prior to the July 1 deadline left her feeling a "budget agreement was imminent." 

"We have been working tirelessly to meet Gov. Dayton's funding requests," she said in a statement issued Friday, "in many cases we matched 100 percent of the way." 

Both Koch and McDonald said they were disappointed in the Governor's refusal to adopt a so-called "lights on" bill Thursday night or early Friday morning. 

"He called our lights-on bill a 'stunt,' which is simply untrue. We were all there to pass a light-on bill before midnight to avoid a shutdown. But the governor never called the special session," McDonald said. 

Dayton summed up his stance late Thursday night: 

"Our major difference remains the same," he said. "It is the difference between my balanced approach of significant spending cuts combined with income tax increases only on the very wealthiest Minnesotans, versus the Republicans’ 'all-cuts' budget."

Tuesday, when the annoucnement came down to accept a third party opinion, spearheaded by former Republican Gov. Arne Carlson and former DFL Sen. Walter Mondale, Koch weighed in, saying she was "open to hearing" any recommendation handed down by the six-member panel, but was intent on solving the stalemate through the legislative process. 

"Gov. Mark Dayton, Speaker of the House Kurt Zellers and I were elected to be the prinicpal negotiators on how to best solve the [$5 billion] state budget deficit. Republicans in the Legislature will continue to maintain our strong committment against raising taxes." 

Koch added she would wlecome "any advice and insight that helps solve this state budget deficit in any responsible way." 

Over the weekend, City Pages revealed Koch would not be taking her legislatvie salary during the shutdown, something she publicly said she would not do – but would not encourage her Republican colleagues to follow in her footsteps. 

McDonald isn't, as he has been listed as one of the legislators who is taking payment during the shutdown. 

Koch will continue to meet with Dayton, Zellers and minority representatives as the two sides try to strike an agreement. 

McDonald, meanwhile, will continue to wait for the call. 

Editor's note: St. Michael Patch has contacted both Sen. Koch and Rep. McDonald. Both have said they will be contacting staff to expand on these statements.