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Pawlenty Prevails As Budget Deal Is Reached May 18, 2003
Flanked only by fellow Republicans, Gov. Tim Pawlenty on Saturday announced a budget accord that would pump another $300 million into his original budget proposal, with the bulk of the extra money going to health and human services and city and county aid.
The additional money would come largely from further accounting shifts and higher fees, including major increases in court fees at all levels.
Pawlenty said the agreement paves the way for a budget that eliminates a projected $4.2 billion deficit, restores $530 million to the budget reserve, softens some of the harshest cuts and holds the line on state taxes.
There were two concessions to DFLers: The agreement allows for a $175 million bonding bill -- a little less than half the amount DFLers had sought.
And it leaves out the racino, the slots-at-Canterbury-racetrack proposal that House Republicans would have used to add $100 million in state revenue. Senate DFLers had opposed the racino because it infringed on the exclusivity of American Indian-owned casinos and expanded gambling.
The final budget resulting from Saturday's deal also still makes some of the biggest trims to state spending in modern history -- $2.3 billion over two years. The cuts are both broad and deep and are expected to affect nearly all aspects of state government and those that rely on state funds. They go into effect July 1, when fiscal 2004 begins.
Pawlenty acknowledged there would be pain for many in this budget. "We are all leading in a time of historic crisis," he said Saturday. "We are choosing from imperfect options."
The governor had invited Senate DFLers to the news conference, but they declined. "We don't believe in this budget. We don't support this budget," said Senate Majority Leader John Hottinger, DFL-St. Peter. "This is an agreement to proceed with the process of keeping government open."
A day earlier, Hottinger and Senate DFLers had folded on their key proposal to raise taxes to balance the budget after Pawlenty said he would shut down government before allowing a tax increase.
Hottinger said Saturday that DFLers had little choice but to capitulate. "We've been fighting for six weeks," he said. At some point, he said, "we had to decide whether we would responsibly fulfill the duties of office." But there is plenty left to argue about before the scheduled adjournment of midnight Monday.
Still unresolved is whether to freeze state workers' pay, the collective bargaining rights of state unions, a new formula for distributing city and county aid, and what projects to include in the bonding bill.
Pawlenty said work on most spending bills is to be completed by tonight. Bills for health and human services and taxes have until Monday afternoon. After the session adjourns, he said, he will allow a two-or three-day respite, then reconvene legislators for what he said should be a short special session to wrap up outstanding bills.
"The goal is to have everyone out of here by Memorial Day," Pawlenty said. After months of fighting over the size and scope of cuts, the final budget very much resembles the one Pawlenty proposed in February.
The increase agreed to Saturday represents a bump of just a little more than 1 percent of what now will be a $28.3 billion budget for 2004-05. Earlier in the session, House Republicans began to argue for a "softening" of Pawlenty's proposed budget cuts after they heard constituent complaints about the impact on city and county services and to seniors and the disabled.
House Republicans then came up with the racino and other means to increase spending by $200 million. Senate DFLers wanted a much more dramatic scaling back of budget cuts. They sought to raise cigarette taxes by $1-per-pack, income taxes on the top 5 percent of wage earners and statewide property taxes for businesses.
The resulting $1.3 billion would have been used to restore funds to health and human services, higher education, cities and counties and a host of other state programs.
In the end, Pawlenty prevailed on most major issues, fending off tax increases, the racino, and all but a modest bonding bill. Pawlenty praised his opponents Saturday, saying that their viewpoints constituted "sincere and genuine differences about the size and scope of government in Minnesota."
House Speaker Steve Sviggum, R-Kenyon, said the final budget preserved "core services" without raising state taxes. "It's a pretty wonderful day in this state," he said. But hundreds who gathered at the Capitol on Saturday to protest the deal had a different take.
Events kicked off when the Women's Rights Action Coalition staged a mock funeral for what it said was the "death" of Minnesota. A grassy area in front of the Capitol was studded with 81 black, cardboard headstones, each bearing the name of a program: RIP 231 firefighter positions, RIP senior nutrition, RIP reading competency programs.
"I don't see a frivolous program among them," thundered the Rev. Doug Donley of the University Baptist Church in Minneapolis. The headstones, he said, "represent the Minnesota we once knew."
Ramsey County Commissioner Victoria Reinhardt said that as a result of budget cuts, 2,800 low-income families would lose services, along with 2,000 low-income seniors. The county's Meals on Wheels program for seniors would be cut in half, she said.
At noon, nearly a thousand people packed the rotunda, hanging over the railings of upper levels to voice their frustration with the budget agreement.
After an hour-long rally, each of the protesters filed past the governor's office, dropping pale green "Quality of Life" bucks in a basket. The cards bore their signatures and the phrase, "Yes, raise revenues! And raise them fairly. I pledge to support our quality of life."
Elliot Seide, a local spokesman for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, said the rally was the beginning of a months-long campaign to restore what they consider needed spending.
"We're going to let them know this is not a spending problem,"
Seide said. "It's a revenue problem. Sacrifices should be spread
fairly." Seide said the coalition of labor, nonprofits and others
would continue their campaign, dubbed "Minnesota's Watching,"
throughout the summer and fall.
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