Downey: Dayton Seemed 'Intent' on Special Session

State Rep. Keith Downey (R-Edina) says he's sick of the ongoing talk about a potential government shutdown coming from Gov. Mark Dayton.

"There's no reason we need to have one," Downey said. "Go back to Gov. Dayton's comments at the State of the State speech, when he said there was no way we'd shut it down." 

Based on his first two years in office, Downey said he felt optimistic things would get done sooner rather than later when the House and Senate passed their budget bills "four to six weeks earlier than usual." Downey contends Dayton wasted four to five weeks of good negotiation time, then launched a $1 million advertising campaign within hours of vetoing a handful of GOP budget bills. 

"I'm left wondering why he never bothered to negotiate with us on our bills and seemed to be intent on a special session."

Dayton has been meeting with GOP legislative leaders in an attempt to resolve the budget impasse, even proposing introducing mediators into the situation to help both sides come together.

"I won't negotiate against my own budget," Dayton said. "I won't negotiate spending reductions until they're willing to negotiate on revenue increases. I've made that perfectly clear for over a month now."

Downey views his role as helping with "heavy lifting on the details of the budget side of things" in the coming days, particularly in light of his recent appointment to the Legislative Commission on Planning and Fiscal Policy. While he admits that group's aim right now is "more political than it typically would be," Downey said he looks forward to playing a part in the negotiation process.

"He may not like our proposal, but you've at least got to sit down and negotiate on it," Downey said. "You can't just do a press conference and say, 'These guys aren't willing to meet me in the middle.' I would like to see an actual counter offer from him."