Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton, center, House Speaker Kurt Zellers, left, and Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch are seen through a window as they meet in the Governor's office at the state Capitol in St. Paul Thursday morning, June 30, 2011 to discuss the state budget impasse. A wide-ranging state government shutdown bore down on Minnesota on Thursday, threatening to shutter state parks on the brink of a holiday weekend and lay off thousands of workers if a budget deal wasn't struck by midnight. MANDATORY CREDIT (Star Tribune, Jim Gehrz / AP)
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota marched toward its second government shutdown in six years on Thursday, with a partisan divide over taxes and spending to close a $5 billion deficit becoming only more bitter as a midnight deadline approached and negotiations foundered.
Any hope of a last-minute budget deal between Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton and Republican legislative leaders evaporated around 10 p.m., when Dayton appeared to say he and Republicans were still fundamentally divided over how much the state should spend the next two years and that he saw no chance of avoiding a shutdown.
"It's significant that this shutdown will begin on the Fourth of July weekend," Dayton said. "On that date we celebrate our independence. It also reminds us there are causes and struggles worth fighting for."
Republicans appeared again minutes later, and tried to hang blame for the shutdown around the governor's neck. They said the two sides were closer than he admitted, and they criticized his refusal to call a special session so lawmakers could pass a "lights on" budget bill to keep government running. Dayton refused, saying he's been clear for months that he would only agree to a total budget approach.
"I think the governor's insistence that we pass a full budget is not going to be of much comfort to Minnesotans who are going to see delays on the highways because construction projects stop," said Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch, R-Buffalo. "It's not going to comfort people who can't use our state parks, or who can't get a driver's license."
A shutdown would force thousands of layoffs, bring road projects to a standstill and close state parks just ahead of the Fourth of July weekend. The effects were already being felt hours ahead of the deadline, as people rushed Thursday to get driver's and fishing licenses, and park officials began warning campers to pack their gear and leave.
Though nearly all states are having severe budget problems this year, Minnesota stood alone on the brink of a shutdown, thanks to Dayton's determination to raise taxes on high-earners to close a $5 billion deficit and the Republican Legislature's insistance that the gap should be closed by cutting spending.
Negotiations between Dayton and legislative leaders were fitful Thursday, starting and stopping with no outward signs of progress. After talks broke down for the last time, Dayton and GOP leaders gave conflicting accounts of the last few rounds of offers.
Republican Sen. Michelle Benson said earlier in the day she wasn't budging, a position that Republican leaders held to even after it became clear the shutdown was coming.
"If we don't start taking a different approach to how we manage our government, we're going to swing from one bad economic circumstance to another," Benson said. "We can't just keep throwing more money at government and hoping that makes things better."
The showdown was something of a small-stage version of the drama taking shape in Washington between President Barack Obama and the Republicans over taxes and the nation's debt ceiling.
Though many states are having budget difficulties this year, those where political power is concentrated in a single party easily passed budgets. Some of those with divided government had healthy reserves, including Alaska, Iowa and Montana; Minnesota's rainy-day accounts are drained. Others such as Louisiana and Nevada used one-time money or federal dollars to patch things together. Nevada and Missouri renewed taxes.
In New Jersey, Republican Gov. Chris Christie used the line-item veto Thursday to pare a budget from the Democratic-controlled Legislature before signing it into law, preventing a shutdown.
Only four other states — Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Tennessee — have had shutdowns in the past decade, some lasting mere hours.
Any hope of a last-minute budget deal between Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton and Republican legislative leaders evaporated around 10 p.m., when Dayton appeared to say he and Republicans were still fundamentally divided over how much the state should spend the next two years and that he saw no chance of avoiding a shutdown.
"It's significant that this shutdown will begin on the Fourth of July weekend," Dayton said. "On that date we celebrate our independence. It also reminds us there are causes and struggles worth fighting for."
Republicans appeared again minutes later, and tried to hang blame for the shutdown around the governor's neck. They said the two sides were closer than he admitted, and they criticized his refusal to call a special session so lawmakers could pass a "lights on" budget bill to keep government running. Dayton refused, saying he's been clear for months that he would only agree to a total budget approach.
"I think the governor's insistence that we pass a full budget is not going to be of much comfort to Minnesotans who are going to see delays on the highways because construction projects stop," said Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch, R-Buffalo. "It's not going to comfort people who can't use our state parks, or who can't get a driver's license."
A shutdown would force thousands of layoffs, bring road projects to a standstill and close state parks just ahead of the Fourth of July weekend. The effects were already being felt hours ahead of the deadline, as people rushed Thursday to get driver's and fishing licenses, and park officials began warning campers to pack their gear and leave.
Though nearly all states are having severe budget problems this year, Minnesota stood alone on the brink of a shutdown, thanks to Dayton's determination to raise taxes on high-earners to close a $5 billion deficit and the Republican Legislature's insistance that the gap should be closed by cutting spending.
Negotiations between Dayton and legislative leaders were fitful Thursday, starting and stopping with no outward signs of progress. After talks broke down for the last time, Dayton and GOP leaders gave conflicting accounts of the last few rounds of offers.
Republican Sen. Michelle Benson said earlier in the day she wasn't budging, a position that Republican leaders held to even after it became clear the shutdown was coming.
"If we don't start taking a different approach to how we manage our government, we're going to swing from one bad economic circumstance to another," Benson said. "We can't just keep throwing more money at government and hoping that makes things better."
The showdown was something of a small-stage version of the drama taking shape in Washington between President Barack Obama and the Republicans over taxes and the nation's debt ceiling.
Though many states are having budget difficulties this year, those where political power is concentrated in a single party easily passed budgets. Some of those with divided government had healthy reserves, including Alaska, Iowa and Montana; Minnesota's rainy-day accounts are drained. Others such as Louisiana and Nevada used one-time money or federal dollars to patch things together. Nevada and Missouri renewed taxes.
In New Jersey, Republican Gov. Chris Christie used the line-item veto Thursday to pare a budget from the Democratic-controlled Legislature before signing it into law, preventing a shutdown.
Only four other states — Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Tennessee — have had shutdowns in the past decade, some lasting mere hours.
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