With 4 days left before Minn. government shutdown, GOP leaders renew call for sp

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With 4 days left before Minn. government shutdown, GOP leaders renew call for

special session

By Condon, The Associated Press | The Canadian Press – 23 minutes ago

STILLWATER, Minn. - Republican legislative leaders demanded Monday that Gov.

Mark Dayton call a special session to let them pass budget bills that would

prevent or soften the pain of a government shutdown in four days.

GOP leaders gathered in a park next to the Stillwater Lift Bridge, saying it's

the kind of vital state service that could close in the shutdown that would hit

Friday without a state budget deal. However, shortly before they started the

Minnesota Department of Transportation said the bridge would likely stay open no

matter what.

Still, the Republicans said the Democratic governor could prevent similar

inconveniences by signing off on budget areas like transportation, K-12

education and public safety where the two sides have narrow or no disagreements.

Dayton has said he would not agree to pieces of the budget until he and

Republicans agreed on a total state spending level for the next two years, which

has been the main sticking point in their continued impasse.

Dayton and GOP leaders planned an afternoon meeting at the Capitol, their first

since two and a half days of meetings ended abruptly on Sunday. The governor and

Republicans have agreed not to comment publicly about the details of their

discussions, and it was unclear if they were making progress on the issues

dividing them.

Republicans have been firm in their insistence that the state not spend more

than $34 billion in its next budget, or the amount that state coffers are

currently projected to collect over two years. Dayton wants another $1.8 billion

or so in new revenue, mostly in new taxes on upper earners, in order to blunt

what he says are unacceptable cuts to medical assistance, college campuses,

transit programs and other government services.

While Republicans at the Stillwater news conference stuck with the vow to not

disclose details of the negotiations, they returned to a message they've been

hammering for months, that the state must cap its spending within existing

revenue collections.

" Most Minnesotans are not seeing an increase in their family budget, " said House

Speaker Kurt Zellers, R-Maple Grove. " We think we should be able to prioritize

within our budget and live within our means. "

A ruling was expected this week from Ramsey County Judge Kathleen Gearin, who is

deciding how a shutdown would be handled. Gearin is weighing who has the legal

authority to continue critical state services.

The Department of Transportation released word Monday afternoon that it had

added the Stillwater Lift Bridge, which connects Minnesota and Wisconsin, to a

list of core services it would argue should be kept up even in a shutdown. The

department said the primary reason would be so that ambulances could get across.

Republican leaders, who'd been prepared to use the bridge as an example of the

shutdown's consequences, said they were heartened by the DOT's announcement but

that other bridges, road projects and many other services might not be so lucky.

" The message remains the same, " said Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch, R-Buffalo.

" Governor, call us back, let us work on the bills on which we have near

agreement. The shutdown is not needed. "