The talk was of another year, another deficit when legislatures dropped by Tuesday’s Yellow Medicine County Board meeting for an exchange with commissioners and department heads.
Senator Gary Kubly, DFL - Granite Falls and House Representatives Lyle Koenen, DFL - Clara City and Andrew Falk, DFL-Murdock were on hand to hear constituent concerns and offer predictions of what to expect from the upcoming legislative session after it begins February 4.
Senator Kubly said that the focus of the session was set to be capital investment up until legislators were informed of the $1.2 billion deficit for 2010-2011 biennium in early December.
The local representatives agreed that making up the deficit would be far from painless and was going necessitate an array of budget balancing measures if it is to be addressed.
“It’s going to require shifts, it’s going to require cuts, it’s going to require new sources of revenue. It is going to take a combination of all those things, that’s just how hard a position where in,” said Falk.
Revenue generated through taxation is not expected to be an option as Governor Tim Pawlenty has stood firm on his position that he will not raise taxes that aren’t designated as a fee.
Kubly said that expected the majority of deficit reductions to come in the form of cuts, but that finding agreement on where those cuts will be could be arduous.
“I just don’t know if we’re going to be able to reach consensus,” he said.
An additional layer of intrigue derives from what could be an extremely heated session politically as all 201 legislative seats are up for election in November and a number of current legislators are running for governor – including the Senate Tax Committee chair, speaker of the house, and the former House minority leader – while the current governor is believed to have his sites set on the White House.
In addition, the legality of Governor Pawlenty’s unallotments are in question after a Ramsey County District Court Judge recently declared that he overstepped the constitutionally designated limits of his power. If more significant rulings take place and the Governor’s ability to unallot is no longer an option, Koenen said it could force Pawlenty into having to come to the table with the legislatures and, in such a scenario, would possibly agree to raise taxes.
Granite Falls, Minn. —
