The Shutdown's Over. Is Everybody Happy?

Image via WikipediaThe longest state government shutdown in American history ended Wednesday, with Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton signing a flurry of bills passed during a hastily called special legislative session.

The new budget is $35 billion.  Nobody's the least bit thrilled about it, even though it wipes out a $5 billion deficit.  It neither raises taxes on the wealthiest Minnesotans (like Democrat Dayton wanted), nor adds new revenue streams.  Instead, the state will just be borrowing from school and tobacco funds to make ends meet, at least until the next budget crisis comes along in a couple of years.

Not that the Governor and Republican legislative leaders were all that transparent in what they were doing.  They took advantage of the State Capitol being closed to the public during the shutdown--in possible violation of open meeting laws--to craft those budget bills in private.  When they finally got to the floor of the Legislature during the special session, everyone else was seeing them for the first time.

Speaking of kicking the can down the road . . . a new Vikings stadium may now have to wait until the 2012 Legislature goes into session.  The NFL team had hoped to swoop in on the special session and piggyback on the budget with a bill of their own.  But that didn't happen because (A) there's no final agreement between the Vikings and Ramsey County on putting the stadium in Arden Hills, and (B) most everyone seemed to agree that this simply isn't the time right now.  So it looks like Minneapolis or Los Angeles might be back in this thing?

After 20 days of partisan squabbling, constituents fuming, services suspended, workers laid off and being the butt of jokes on late-night TV, is Minnesota ready to get back to what's considered normal?  You can buy and renew your licenses now.  State parks are or will soon be open.  Canterbury Park is racing again.  Construction projects will resume.  But no matter what service has been saved from the budget ax, they will have less money and fewer people to do it with.

To paraphrase Elton John, I guess that's why they call it a compromise.