Lawmakers Representing Woodbury React To Minnesota Government Shutdown

Like most Minnesotans, Rep. Andrea Kieffer is looking forward to the Fourth of July weekend.

Still, the Woodbury Republican says she will be ready to head back to the Capitol should GOP leadership and Gov. Mark Dayton reach an agreement on the budget and bring an end to the .

“I hope they can come to something,” Kieffer told Patch on Friday.  “I don’t know though. I’ve got my cell phone on. I’m waiting.”

Sen. Ted Lillie has told Patch that the GOP will , and Kieffer said Woodbury residents agree that the state should balance its budget without a tax hike.

Dayton on Thursday said he offered a plan that would have raised taxes only on those Minnesotans who make more than $1 million a year.

“That is less than 0.3 percent of the state population,” the governor said. “Despite many hours of negotiations, the Republican caucus remains adamantly opposed to new taxes.”

Kieffer said she was up late on Thursday, hoping the Legislature and governor could at least agree to a “lights-on” bill that would keep the state government running while a budget deal is worked out.

“But that didn’t go,” she said. “I think it’s a real shame that there was a shutdown, because there really didn’t need to be.”

Kieffer said people might not notice the affects of a shutdown over the holiday weekend, but come next week “reality’s going to set in.”

She was also hoping portions of the budget—notably a transportation bill—would have been agreed to. “It’s so unbelievable to have the entire state shut down.”

It’s also unfortunate that places like the Minnesota Zoo and Canterbury Park will be shuttered on a holiday weekend when many families are looking for activities to do together, Kieffer said.

She also said Dayton had plenty of time to review the GOP plans and shouldn’t have allowed the “last-minute drama.”

In a newsletter, Sen. Lillie, who represents Woodbury, said most Minnesotans want government expenditures reduced or kept at current levels. The GOP proposal, he said, is reasonable.

“We make offers to him and have not had a single counter offer from him,” Lillie said in the newsletter sent out Thursday night. “Is that reasonable? When we ask him to outline how he wants to spend the $1.8 billion, he won’t tell us. Is that reasonable? I ask you, who is refusing to negotiate and compromise for the good of our state?”