“Closed” became the operative word for Minnesota’s state government on Friday, once Republican lawmakers and the Democratic governor failed to reach a compromise on the state’s new budget.

 

With no spending plan in place for the new fiscal year that began July 1, the state had no choice but to shut down, putting more than 20,000 public employees out of work for an undetermined period. For those relying on the Minnesota government for assistance, such as the poor and disabled, the shuttering of offices means no social services or aid checks.

 

Dozens of social service providers hope a court-appointed retired judge will order the state to make exceptions for the needy. But it remains to be seen how much authority former Supreme Court Chief Justice Kathleen Blatz has to force the state to act.

 

The budget impasse was eight months in the making, after Minnesota voters turned the state capital upside down by putting Republicans—who hadn’t controlled the legislature in almost four decades—in command of both the House and Senate, and electing a Democrat (Mark Dayton) as governor, the first time that had happened in 20 years.

 

Mirroring a conflict on the national level, Minnesota Republicans are adamant that the state close its $5 billion deficit solely with spending cuts. Dayton, however, wants to raise taxes on the wealthy to minimize some of the program reductions.

 

The shutdown represents the second one in six years for Minnesota (the other occurred in 2005) and the sixth in the country since 2002.

 

How long the stalemate will last is unclear. Optimists are hoping a budget deal will be reached in a few days, while others say they wouldn’t be surprised if negotiations continued into August.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

No End in Sight as Minnesotans Grapple with State Shutdown (by Monica Davey, New York Times)

As State Shutdown Begins, So Do the Pleas for Assistance (by Mike Kaszuba, Minneapolis Star Tribune)

Broken Deals, Bitter Words and a State Shuts Down (by Baird Helgeson, Mike Kaszuba, Eric Roper and Rachel E. Stassen-Berger, Minneapolis Star Tribune)

No Holiday from the Impasse (by Baird Helgeson, Minneapolis Star Tribune)