Legislators: Potential Shutdown Raising Anxiety Among Constituents

With the potential for a Minnesota state government shutdown looming, so is anxiety among constituents of Oakdale’s state legislators, they said.

Sen. Chuck Wiger, DFL-Maplewood, worked with a woman who didn’t have health coverage and was applying for MinnesotaCare. She has a brain tumor for which she needs treatment. Ultimately she qualified for coverage, however, through the application process, her family was worried her papers wouldn’t be reviewed before a government shutdown, and she’d be left in the lurch, he said.

“This could be a life and death situation,” Wiger said. “Do you suddenly put a hold on the safety net?”

Rep. Nora Slawik, DFL-Maplewood, said she’s heard concerns from state workers who might not have a job in the event of a shutdown and from families that provide foster care about whether their payments will still come, among others.

Despite four straight days of budget talks between Gov. Mark Dayton and legislative leaders, and reports of progress, Slawik said she’s still not convinced the sides will reach agreement in time to avoid a shutdown this Friday, July 1.

“The legislative process reacts to heat,” she said. “You turn up the heat on legislators and they make their decisions more quickly, and I don’t see them being at a boiling point. I wish we were. I want to get this done.”

Wiger said he's still hopeful an agreement can be reached before a shutdown.

Slawik and Wiger were both on hand over the weekend to give input on particular portions of the budget. Slawik’s been active in education and health and human services.

Slawik couldn’t say much about the negotiations, she said, however she said the two sides are still working toward an overall agreement on the big-picture items that affect all of the bills—revenue and spending.

Wiger—who said he has been involved with the education and state government finance bills—said he expects a provision allowing so-called racinos to come into play as a source of revenue.

If legislative leaders and the governor can reach an agreement, Slawik said, then legislators will likely be called in to pass a so-called "lights-on" bill to re-open the government until the finalized version of the agreed-upon bills can be written and passed.