For six months before the shutdown even became a possibility, Republican legislators talked about and planned for a shutdown. From committee hearings on past shutdowns to blaming Governor Dayton, Republicans have not had their constituents' interests in mind by refusing to compromise with the Governor. Now, they've made it clear that if they stay in the legislature, they plan to shut down state government again rather than compromise with Gov. Dayton
Created by sfenner on Jun 29, 2011
Last updated: 06/26/12 at 02:32 PM
Tags: Shutdown Compromise State Government Republicans
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"My belief is that had we done the same thing that Scott Walker did and stood up to the clamoring in the halls of the Capitol and put [so-called Right to Work] on the ballot this fall, not only would we have survived it, but we would have been rewarded for it," Thompson said. "And it would have passed." [MPR, 06/06/12]
Minnesota's state-government shutdown ended on its 20th day Wednesday morning with Gov. Mark Dayton's signing of a dozen budget bills that the House and Senate passed overnight in a marathon, 12-hour special session. At 9 a.m. Wednesday, Dayton signed into law all 12 budget bills passed in the middle of the night Wednesday by the Minnesota House and Senate. Dayton’s signatures ended the shutdown of Minnesota government—at 20 days, it was the longest continuous shutdown of any state government in United States history. [Fridley Patch, 07/19/11]
[Mendota Heights Patch, 07/18/11]
Gov. Mark Dayton, House Speaker Kurt Zellers (R-Maple Grove) and Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch (R-Buffalo) report reaching “considerable progress” during weekend budget negotiations. A handshake deal was reached on HHS, but there was no special session today. [Mendota Heights Patch, 07/17/11]
Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life (MCCL), the state’s leading anti-abortion lobby, has delivered a letter to GOP legislators urging them to vote no on the deal agreed to by GOP leaders and Dayton on Thursday. [Politics in Minnesota, 07/16/11]
“So if the governor is going to stand on no reform, this shutdown could last a very long time,” Parry said. [Mankato Free Press, 07/16/11]
Just before 11:40 this morning, GOP leadership (Speaker Kurt Zellers, House Majority Leader Matt Dean, Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch) entered a meeting at the governor’s office with the HHS chairs and agency personnel. As of 1:00 p.m., we are told there is not yet agreement on the HHS bill. [Politics in Minnesota, 07/16/11]
“I’m not sure [when the special session will start],” DeKruif said. “I’d just suggest: Stay tuned.” [Mankato Free Press, 07/16/11]
“I didn’t come here just to finish a budget. I came to change the direction were going and put us on a different trajectory.” [Mankato Free Press, 07/16/11]
“In my view, taking the [state government] reforms off the table is a deal-breaker. Why didn’t the governor tell us this before? “These are his big issues,” Runbeck continued. “The tax issue has been the foil to get people mad at us, but what he really doesn’t want is these reforms to reduce the size of government. “I like that he’s going back to June 30 [offers], but the conditions, in my mind, are telling us — well, I don’t want to say ‘F you’ — on all our ideas.” [Politics in Minnesota, 07/15/11]
The GOP-controlled Minnesota Legislature did not meet the Friday 10 p.m. target for completing the drafting of its omnibus spending bills. Negotiators are still working on HHS, K-12 and state government, and there continue to be disagreements over policy provisions and spending reforms in those areas. [Politics in Minnesota, 07/16/11]
GOP Sen. Mike Parry made news yesterday for walking out of a state government finance meeting with MMB Commissioner Jim Schowalter, prompting Gov. Mark Dayton to say that some of the negotiations occurring required “adult supervision,” a sentiment that got a second from Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch. [Politics in Minnesota, 07/16/11]
Parry is not the only lege committee chair who reportedly lost his temper in budget talks yesterday. According to one story that made the rounds at the State Office Building, House K-12 Finance Chair Pat Garofalo reportedly threw his laptop computer to the floor in frustration and broke it during a K-12 budget meeting with administration officials yesterday. Garofalo says that isn’t so: “I’m using the same laptop today I was using yesterday. My laptop is fine.” He declined to comment further on what transpired in the meeting. [Politics in Minnesota, 07/16/11]
"I'm excited that we've gotten to a point where the governor saw value in our last offer." [Post-Bulletin, 07/14/11]
“It’s a good compromise, so I’m excited about it." [Woodbury Patch, 07/14/11]
"I am willing to agree to something I do not agree with," [Dayton] said during a forum at the University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute. [MPR, 07/14/11]
"I haven’t received much pressure from anyone about it and I’m not sure why there would be any pressure. I work and I get paid for the work. I’m not laid off. I went to St Paul to do a job and I did it, and I continue to do my job representing the people of my district." [Chanhassen Villager, 07/12/11]
"The overwhelming message I'm getting from people is 'Hang tough, don't give in.' I don't plan to." [MinnPost, 07/11/11]
In a statement, Sen. Majority Leader Koch wrote that the government shutdown is "now the longest government shut down in U.S. history." [MN Senate Press Release, 07/11/11] That is not true. MPR reports that there were three state government shutdowns in 1991 - Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Maine. All were longer than the current MN shutdown. Pennsylvania's impasse lasted 34 days. Maine's impasse that year lasted 17 days. Connecticut's impasse in 1991 lasted from July 1 until August 23. [MPR, 07/08/11
"Legislative leadership chose not to accept these proposals..." [Constituent update, 07/11/11]
"This week Governor Dayton offered a proposal that took a giant step backwards in budget negotiations." [Constituent update, 07/08/11]
Sen. Warren Limmer (R-Maple Grove), Sen. Scott Newman (R-Hutchinson), Sen. Sean Nienow (R-Cambridge), Sen. Roger Chamberlain (R-Lino Lakes), Rep. Glenn Gruenhagen (R-Glencoe) and Rep. Ernie Leidiger (R-Mayer) filed a petition asking the Minnesota Supreme Court to stop funding for essential services during the state government shutdown. [MPR, 07/08/11]
"Both sides made compromise budget offers in the days leading up to the shutdown." "It's time for both sides to move off their preferred number, find one that both can live with, and put Minnesota's government back in business." [Constituent update, 07/08/11]
"There is a big difference between compromising and capitulating. Swallowing the governor's tax increases whole would be capitulating and capitulating is something I resist." [Constituent update, 07/07/11]
Minnesota lost its top credit rating on Thursday as Fitch Ratings downgraded the state's general obligation bonds one notch to AA-plus, citing the budget impasse. [CNBC, 07/07/11]
The governor's two options would plug the $1.4 billion gap between what he wants to spend over the next two years and the amount Republican legislative leaders will accept. The first option, which he called the "far better solution," called for a temporary 2 percent income tax surcharge on the 7,700 Minnesota taxpayers earning more than $1 million a year. It would expire after two years and raise an additional $520 million during that period. That option is a downward revision from the "tax the rich" themes of his election campaign last year. In February, he proposed increasing income taxes on the top 5 percent of income earners. In May, he reduced it to the top 2 percent and then to the top 1 percent last week when he proposed a 3 percent tax increase on millionaires. The Democratic-Farmer-Labor governor's second option featured the tobacco tax increase, which he called a "much less desirable tax." He estimated it would raise $283 million over the next two years. [Pioneer Press, 07/06/11]
“We did not serve the people of Minnesota as well as we could have." [Redwood Falls Gazette, 07/05/11]
“[Dayton] should resign as governor...He has no feelings. ...The shutdown doesn’t bother him at all. " [Forum Communications, 07/05/11]
Rep. Wardlow called the shutdown "a winner for us" politically. [Politico, 07/04/11]
“The time for compromise is over.” [Politico, 07/04/11]
"It's a deadlock. And I'm telling you, the majority party in the Senate, we're strong. And we're going to stay strong." [Star Tribune, 07/04/11]
"I definitely feel responsible. It’s not something I’m proud of at all. But I do believe I was elected to make difficult decisions. This is a decision I’m comfortable with.” [St. Cloud Times, 07/02/11]
"Make no mistake, Governor Dayton created the unnecessary pain of this government shutdown—and some believe he was planning for it long before session even ended." [Woodbury Patch, 07/02/01]
"Nobody wants a shutdown, but it's an interesting opportunity to see what impact not having these nonessential employees has. It will allow us a chance to assess, one-by-one, what can actually be done without all of those people." [Edina Patch, 07/01/11]
"I personally think the Republicans will probably be more damaged than the governor" by the shutdown, said freshman Rep. Mike LeMieur, R-Little Falls, who toppled an incumbent Democrat in November. [Associated Press, 07/01/11]
"No one wants a government shutdown." [Eagan Patch, 07/01/11]
“We make offers to him and have not had a single counter offer from him. Is that reasonable? When we ask him to outline how he wants to spend the $1.8 billion, he won’t tell us. Is that reasonable? I ask you, who is refusing to negotiate and compromise for the good of our state?” [Woodbury Patch, 07/01/11]
Republican legislators, who were listening to Dayton's June 30 press conference in the back of the room, started to boo and hiss. "No one had ever heard legislators from any party boo a governor while he was speaking in such a somber circumstance. It was almost a 'you lie' moment - and one that showed how, in the end, anger was winning out over any chance of settlement." [MinnPost, 07/01/11]
A GOP budget offer on the last night before the government shutdown asked Dayton to accept extreme and controversial policy measures, including voter suppression laws, abortion restrictions and a 15 percent reduction in the number of state workers by 2015. [Star Tribune, 07/01/11] The Republican budget also includes prevailing wage provisions, cloning provisions, redistricting and a requirement for no transportation bonding bill. [Scribd, 07/01/11]
"I cannot accept a Minnesota where people with disabilities lose part of the time they are cared for by personal care attendants so that millionaires don't have to pay $1 more in taxes," Dayton said. "I cannot accept a Minnesota where young people cannot afford the rising tuition at the University of Minnesota or a MnSCU campus so that millionaires do not have to pay $1 more in taxes." [MPR, 07/01/11]
"It was easy for the Governor to shut the government down, but he may find it very difficult to get the government operating again." "[Dayton's] press conference was full of half truths and misrepresentations and intentional inaccuracies." [Constituent update, 06/30/11]
"Let me be clear here: There is no good reason to shut down the government." [Constituent update, 06/30/11]
"Although the Governor positions himself to appear as though he is compromising, he is not." [Constituent update, 06/30/11]
"Sadly, I believe that Governor Dayton is not interested in negotiation, compromising or breaking the budget stalemate in St. Paul. Instead, he would prefer a state government shutdown." [Constituent update, 06/29/11]
"Gov. Dayton dismissed our compromise of meeting his education target, and has not made one counteroffer to end this budget stalemate." [Worthington Daily Globe, 06/29/11] "Let’s be clear, the last thing I want is a government shutdown. But it appears we have a governor that is bound and determined to make this happen." [Worthington Daily Globe, 06/29/11] "Since declaring on May 16 he wanted to spend $35.8 billion on government programs over the next two years — almost a $4 billion increase — Gov. Dayton has not made one attempt at compromise." [Worthington Daily Globe, 06/29/11]
"A shutdown would be like kicking a guy when he's down." [Minnetonka Patch, 06/28/11]
"Since we passed our budget in May, we have offered Governor Dayton two different compromises in an effort to break the stalemate of negotiations.” [Constituent update, 06/24/11] "The ball is in his court and now it is his turn to tell us what he is willing to compromise on. While a shutdown appears to be looming it is completely avoidable and unnecessary. The Governor needs to compromise and call us back to the legislature. We cannot shutdown the government over a tax increase." [Constituent update, 06/24/11]
"It really is up to the Governor whether we shutdown government or not. He is the only one who can call the legislature back for a special session to resolve this before June 30th.... As you can see we are trying to work with the Governor and we have presented three different proposals to him. It is now his turn to compromise, we will never get anywhere if we don’t know what is acceptable to him and what is not. Without details from the Governor on his own budget, that puts everyone at an impasse on what to do." [Constituent update, 06/24/11]
“We have now presented the Governor with three different offers and time is running out. We need to work together in order to pass a budget. We need to hear from the governor on what he is willing to compromise on.” [MN House of Representatives Press Release, 06/24/11]
“Even without a final budget agreement on July 1st, a government shutdown is not necessary,” Nienow wrote. [MinnPost, 06/24/11]
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