Politics & Government
Update: Zoo Opens, Canterbury Still Closed as Talks Take Holiday Break
No talks between GOP and governor are scheduled as negotiations take "breather."
Gov. Mark Dayton told MPR News on Friday that budget negotiations between himself and GOP lawmakers need a “breather.”
The governor said he is willing to listen to proposals and even meet with Republican leaders over the weekend but if no offers were made he would “reach out” to them sometime on Tuesday.
The governor met with DFL leaders around 9 a.m Friday but details of the talks are being kept strictly confidential. According to KSTP-TV, Dayton has been in his office all day working on a compromise deal.
After weeks of intense negotiations, capped by closed-door sessions through the waning minutes of June 30, Dayton and Republican lawmakers failed to agree on an operating budget for the 2011-13 biennium.
The proposed budgets from the governor and GOP lawmakers remain separated by $1.4 billion.
Ramsey County District Court Judge Kathleen Gearin ruled Saturday afternoon that the Minnesota Zoo can remain operational during Minnesota’s government shutdown.
She also ruled, however, that Shakopee’s Canterbury Park and Forest Lake’s Running Aces may not operate until the state’s budget debate is resolved.
In her zoo decision, Gearin used a standing appropriations rule to determine that fees garnered from parking, concessions, admissions, donations and memberships should be returned to the Apple Valley facility.
Gearin’s ruling read: “The statutes regarding zoo special revenue funds do not appear to the court to require a decision by the legislature before they can be appropriated.”
The zoo is scheduled to reopen to the public at 9 a.m. Sunday.
The Minnesota Zoo receives approximately 29 percent of its revenue from the state and—because it was deemed non-essential in Gearin’s June 29 ruling—those funds will be unavailable for the duration of the shutdown.
Gearin’s ruling on the ponies went the other way.
On Saturday afternoon, she denied petitions from Shakopee’s Canterbury Park and Forest Lake’s Running Aces harness racing track, saying the Minnesota Racing Commission must request state funding. Without a biennial budget in place, no requests for funding can be made.
Like the zoo, neither track was considered an essential function in Gearin’s June 29 ruling.
In contrast, Gearin said she ruled in favor of the zoo because she “was unable to find any bills from the 87th legislative session” dealing with appropriations to that facility.
According to the Star Tribune, Canterbury Park laid off 1,000 employees in the lead-up to the July 1 government shutdown while Running Aces laid off 600 workers.
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July 1: No Deal: State Government Goes Dark
June 30: (Update) The Latest From St. Paul as Deadline Nears
June 30: Local Clinics Await Their Fate
June 30: Locals React to Approaching Shutdown
June 29: Judge Rules What's Essential During Shutdown
June 29: Hennepin County Battens Down Hatches as Shutdown Nears
June 28: Invasive Species Inspections Continue as Shutdown Nears
June 25: Local Nonprofits, Hospitals Brace for Shutdown
June 23: Shutdown Shouldn't Hurt Minnehaha Watershed District
June 22: State Shutdown Would Freeze DNR