DFL Senate Status At Easter Break

03/27/2005

Paul Munnis

After four straight years of state budget deficits, and after last year’s disastrously unproductive session, Senate DFLers passed legislation this week that balances the state’s budget for the long term.

In the spirit of bipartisanship, Senate DFLers saw to it that the provisions of the legislation are comprised of elements of Governor Pawlenty’s recommendations for revenue enhancement and budget cuts for the next biennium. Together, they patch a $466 million deficit.

The two bills, if approved by the House and Governor, will allow the legislature to proceed with necessary discussions on funding – and finding revenue sources for – Minnesota schools, cities, transportation, public safety, health care and veterans’ needs without the threat that government will be shut down.

The Senate DFL’s actions represent a fresh approach to lawmaking and budget-setting. Some political activists and old-style politicians argue that “everything should be on the table” until the “bitter end”. In fact, bitter endings are exactly the sort of thing that the Senate is seeking to avoid.  By accomplishing its core function first - balancing the budget – the Senate is doing exactly what citizens should expect of their legislators.

This session isn’t over. Senate DFLers will not adjourn the session without finding agreement on the key issues and funding priorities that lie ahead.  The vote this week was to hold those discussions in an honest, straight-forward manner so that specific proposals can be tied to the revenue needed to pay for them.

The Senate DFL’s bold action encroaches on the old-fashioned style of arm-twisting and legislative wheeling-dealing. But after last year’s gridlock, it makes sense to try a fresh approach.

Senate Majority Leader Dean Johnson, DFL-Willmar, proclaimed that the first half of the session was “quite good.” Senate DFLers, he said, had passed a balanced budget bill, a bonding bill, an ethanol bill and a crackdown on methamphetamine. With the deficit taken care of, he said, they would return from Easter ready to tackle new spending and new revenue sources.

Major problems lie ahead with Governor Pawlenty’s proposal for the use of gambling revenue as a key method to fund Minnesota State Government. The DFL deeply disagrees with the Governor on this aspect of his plan and seeks more stable revenues and cash flows—ones that are not reliant on people who are often additcted to gambling. The DFL does not agree with turning Minnesota into a clone of Nevada.