MINNEAPOLIS— Minnesota residents vented
frustration at political leaders on Tuesday as
the longest state government shutdown in
recent U.S. history plowed deep into its
second week with no new talks scheduled.
Democratic Governor Mark Dayton stepped
out of the capital on Tuesday, joining a
discussion on special education funding at a
high school in St. Cloud northwest of the Twin
Cities that was attended by several Republican
state lawmakers.
The first of several planned meetings the
governor has outside the Twin Cities this week
ended with more than 20 minutes of residents
urging an end to the 12-day-old shutdown.
"Where is your conscience," Anthony Akubue,
a St. Cloud State University environmental and
technological studies professor, told the
lawmakers.
"It's not about you, it is about us who sent you
there," said Akubue, who said empty speeches
or rhetoric did not sit well with him. "It's not
about you. We sent you there."
Other residents said it was "unacceptable" that
a shutdown could continue for a month or
more and they were appalled at the lack of
time spent in top level negotiations.
One woman told Dayton it was more important
that people get back to work than which side
would win the budget battle.
Minnesota's new fiscal year began on July 1
without a budget deal to close a projected $5
billion two-year deficit, leading to the second
state government shutdown in six years.
The issues driving the impasse in Minnesota
are similar to differences raised in Washington
during negotiations over the debt ceiling and
over budgets in other states. Still, Minnesota is
the only state where the government has shut
down.
Dayton has proposed an array of tax or
revenue increases under a budget about $1.4
billion higher than a Republican proposal that
seeks to hold back spending. Several policy
gaps remain, especially in education and
health spending.
Those positions have not changed significantly
since the start of the shutdown and Dayton,
Republican House Speaker Kurt Zellers and
Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch have not
met in top level private talks in nearly a week.
www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43626203
