ST. PAUL, Minn. — Instead of sending Minnesota’s elected leaders into a frenzy of activity, the nation’s only state government shutdown has deepened the political paralysis that led them to their budget standoff. Top Democrats and Republicans have given no sign when they will talk again about how to resolve the stalemate.
After blowing May and June deadlines to agree on a budget, Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton and Republican legislative leaders have met twice — once for less than 30 minutes — and have made no apparent progress since most of the state government closed July 1.
There is little sense of urgency, even with 22,000 state employees idled, 100 road projects stopped, 66 state parks barricaded, an assortment of services discontinued and the state’s top credit rating tarnished.
“My thoughts would just be to encourage them to continue to meet and talk and try to work on a compromise that will benefit the entire state of Minnesota,” said Mary Nienow, who directs a child-care advocacy organization, Child Care Works. She said her group is getting dozens of e-mails a day from families worried that they will lose their child-care assistance.
The key players had one brief session at midweek that ended with the two sides accusing each other of taking a step backward. Speaking to reporters after each session, they have said nothing that suggests progress.
“Sometimes no news is good news, but in this case I’m not sure,” said former Minnesota House Minority Leader Marty Seifert, who represented Republicans in budget talks from 2007 until 2009.
