(UPDATED) Process To Get Minnesota Back In Business Will Take Time

Sen. Latz says bonding bill allows Perpich to move money around.

Jeff Roberts, Patch Staff

Posted Tue, Jul 19, 2011 at 4:06 pm CT|Updated Tue, Jul 19, 2011 at 10:22 pm CT

(Updated 6 p.m.) The overarching message to Minnesotans is “Be ready.” That comes from Gov. Mark Dayton’s chief of staff, Tina Smith, and Minnesota Management and Budget commissioner Jim Schowalter.

Smith and Schowalter sounded cautiously optimistic in a conference call with media this afternoon.

“There are a lot of assumptions right now,” Schowalter said. “But it is important to remind everyone that normal operations will not resume immediately. The bills must pass both bodies and then be signed into law by the governor.”

Schowalter said that while the timing and enactment of the bills is still uncertain, after Dayton signs them, money will become available to the respective agencies the following day. So if Dayton signs the bills tonight, the money will be available Wednesday.

It’s “unlikely,” Smith said, that state workers would go back to their jobs on Wednesday, noting the logistics of passing the legislation and contacting workers. Each agency will have its own process for resuming operations, and state employees will be given 24 hours notice to return to work, Schowalter explained.

Smith and Schowalter concluded the call by encouraging Minnesotans to check out the Be Ready Website, created by the state to deliver real-time information.

“We are moving forward with two things right now: urgency and common sense,” Smith said.

“The goal,” Smith reiterated, “is to restart the government as quickly as we can and get Minnesotans back to work.”

_____________________

(Updated 4:30 p.m.) Minnesota legislators have been called back to their seats and an end to the government shutdown appears just hours away.

Find out what's happening in Golden Valleyfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

Gov. Mark Dayton called for a special legislative session to begin 3 p.m. today—19 days into the shutdown of Minnesota government—after approving preliminary versions of nine legislative bills totaling $35.4 billion over the 2011-13 biennium.

Legislators have resolved some of the session’s more contentious bills—on K-12 education, state government, jobs and economic development, taxes and higher education. The public safety/judiciary, transportation and environment bills were given the nod Monday afternoon, a day after legislators agreed in principle on a $11 billion Health and Human Services bill.

Find out what's happening in Golden Valleyfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

Provided the Legislature passes the bills, Dayton plans to sign them into law “as they come in” this afternoon and, effectively, end the shutdown. The governor said it would then take a “few days” to notify and call back to work the 22,000 state workers laid off July 1.

Patch talked with Golden Valley Sen. Ron Latz (DFL-District 44) as he was at the Capitol working through the details of the bills with the rest of his caucus. Like others in the room, he hadn’t seen some of the specifics because the minority party had been left out of negotiations.

“The governor struck the deal with the Republicans,” Latz said. “It’s not the best process. But since we’re in the minority, we don’t control the legislative outcomes.”

He said he hadn’t yet decided how he will vote on the individual bills. Latz just after it was announced, calling it “fiscally irresponsible.” But he said Tuesday that there may be bills that he could vote for.

He was happy to see that just about all the non-budget policy provisions had been stripped from the bills—one of Dayton’s stipulations for agreeing to the Republican plan. Although a few non-budget items remain, the most controversial items are no longer part of the package.

Latz’s district looks to benefit from another Dayton stipulation: a $497 million bonding bill.

The bill corrects technical errors from the last bonding bill that kept the Perpich Center for Arts Education from moving money around. And it sets aside money for roads and bridges—although where exactly the money will go depends on the Minnesota Department of Transportation’s priority list.

It also extends funding for a McLeod County switching yard that will allow Twin Cities & Western Railroad Co. to move switching out of St. Louis Park and into Glencoe.

Latz further praised the bill for allocating money for a new physics and nanotechnology building at the University of Minnesota. In all, Latz estimates that the bill will create about 15,000 jobs.

However, the bill does not set aside any money for the Southwest Transitway light rail project. Republicans have opposed light rail, and the Southwest line has been a particular target of their ire—with Shakopee Rep. Michael Beard (R-District 35A), chairman of the HouseTransportation Policy and Finance Committee, pledging to stop the Southwest light rail line "in its tracks."

Although negotiators were able to carve out some money for transit in the bonding, the Met Council will be unable to spend it on the Southwest Transitway, Latz said.

Follow the latest shutdown developments:

July 19: Capitol Will Be Open To The Public At 9 a.m. Today

July 18:

July 17: (UPDATED)

July 16:

July 14:

July 13: Government Shutdown Means Development Slowdown

July 9: Ramsey County Judge Approves Two Petitions But Denies Another

(UPDATED)

(UPDATED) Metro Prepares for Transit Cuts in Shadow of Government Shutdown

July 8: Sen. Latz Responds to Commission's Solution

July 7: Metro Prepares for Transit Cuts in Shadow of Government Shutdown