Update: Roseville Legislators Field Questions on Potential State Government Shutdown at 'Town Hall' Meeting

(NEWS UPDATE IN THIS STORY)

Swamped with constituents concerned about the impending state government shutdown, the end-of-session “town hall meeting” that Roseville legislators held Wednesday evening at the State Capitol yielded the largest turnout of any such event.

Hosting the meeting were District 54 Sen. John Marty, House 54A Rep. Mindy Greiling and House 54B Rep. Bev Scalze, all of whose districts include parts of Roseville.

The event’s location was changed from the conference room-sized House Chamber to the House Floor to accommodate the more than 50 constituents who came to question their legislators and hear them speak about the imminent state shutdown.

Throughout the meeting, in speeches and in answers to constituent questions, the three legislators stressed the undesirability of a shutdown. They also noted the importance of compromise to end the budget impasses but also maintained that some principles and services are too important to be compromised.

Scalze said a shutdown will financially hurt the state. “Since the state is self-insured by having unemployment insurance, the tax-payer will continue to pay with state workers not working.”

Marty said that, when negotiating with the Republican leadership in the legislature, it is important for the governor to only make cuts that he “thinks are humane.

“Yeah, you need to compromise to avoid a shutdown,” Marty said, “but don’t compromise everything you believe in.”

All three legislators are in the DFL, and a strong partisan current ran through their remarks.
Marty characterized the Republicans as having a knee-jerk reaction that “we’ve got to cut the budget because it’s too huge.

“They’ve got this mindset that taxes are evil, government is bad,” he said.

Marty said this mindset leads to irresponsible budget choices.
“Is the best they can do in terms of cutting spending, cutting chemical dependency programs for prison inmates that need treatment?” he asked.

Greiling said the DFL has conceded to some Republican demands but “both sides have to compromise.”

“It’s skewed against us,” she said.

While the legislators said they were still hoping to prevent a shutdown, they realized the clock was running out and they were making preparations for their own offices during a shutdown.

The state of Minnesota appeared destined to shut down midnight tonight as Senate majority caucus spokesperson Michael Brodkorb emerged from the latest round of talks this afternoon with nothing new to share.

"Respecting the code of silence, I cannot comment on whether or not they're close to a deal," Brodkorb said. "There is no deal right now and there are no more meetings scheduled for today."

In a rare moment of optimism, Brodkorb did say that he fully expects that to change.

"The Republican leadership is here and not going anywhere," he said. "I cannot confirm anything but I expect them to meet again today."

No one from Gov. Mark Dayton's office addressed the on-site media.

As it stands, the Twin Cities news website MinnPost was reporting Thursday afternoon that the state Capitol security was preparing to clear the building at 12:01 a.m.

The League of Minnesota Cities was also preparing for the shutdown, detailing the shutdown implications for cities, as well as preparing to assist cities that are adversely affected. According to its website, “former Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Kathleen Blatz, will begin taking input from interested parties on “core function” designations starting July 1.”

Meanwhile, at the town hall meeting Wednesday, Greiling said that while much of her core staff would continue working or volunteering, constituent services would be seriously disrupted by a shutdown.

“Our staff,” she said, “that actually follows up on big constituent problems--someone contacts our offices that’s having trouble getting their child support--a lot of that staff won’t be here."

Greiling and Scalze said they had agreed to defer their pay during a shutdown, and Marty said he would donate his pay to a domestic violence shelter.

Scalze said that she’s worried about the “most needy” during a shutdown.

“Seniors in nursing homes, children with autism--a lot of people are going to suffer,” she said in an interview. “I’ve got the Highway 36 bridge project going on and that’s a lot of time lost and jobs lost.”

Angela Heiderscheid of Shoreview, a self-described “unemployed single parent,” brought her daughter Hayley, 11, to the meeting. (By the time the question-and-answer period was over, Hayley was on page 516 of the last Harry Potter novel.)

Heiderscheid, who is studying social work at St. Scholastica in St. Paul, said she and her daughter receive medical assistance, food stamps and state-funded childcare.

She said she was worried about losing their medical assistance--the Heiderscheids take about 20 medications--but that the Ramsey County District Court’s ruling Wednesday morning reassured her that their medical assistance and food stamps will not be affected by a shutdown.

Her main concern now is childcare.

“I have childcare not associated with federal law under TANF,” she said. “I have no idea what I’m going to do. I’m living off of student loans.”