Thissen: A DFL Majority Would Solve Budget Problem—Once And For All

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Now that the 2012 Minnesota State Legislature session has come to an end—and with all legislative seats up for re-election this fall—Richfield Rep. Paul Thissen said if Minnesotans decide to elect a DFL legislature, postive changes will follow.

In a Star Tribune commentary column, Thissen said Republican legislators promised to end "business as usual" when they ran for election two years ago. However, he believes they failed to deliver on that promise.

"The last two years have been marked by [Republicans] striking unwillingness to compromise, which led to gridlock and ," Thissen wrote. "Republican House Majority Leader Matt Dean even bragged that the Republicans 'won the shutdown'—ignoring the fact that 19,000 Minnesotans were laid off, state parks were closed and Minnesota's reputation as a 'state that works' was tarnished."

Thissen went on to criticize Republicans' failure to balance the budget, create and their choice to focus on and other policies, which he believed put a further squeeze on the middle class. He also said, "When asked why our state government has suffered such gridlock for the last two years, Republican Speaker Kurt Zellers said 'voters got what they asked for.' I beg to differ."

Of course, he also tooted DFL horns, writing in closing: "A DFL majority would solve, once and for all, our state's structural budget problem in the balanced way that most Minnesotans say they support, rather than pushing it off another year—or more. It's time for a new direction. It should be forward."

Read Thissen's full column in the Star Tribune.