2011 Minnesota state government shutdown
The shutdown was the result of a fiscal dispute between the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) Governor Mark Dayton and the Republican-majority Minnesota Legislature, that was not resolved by the constitutional deadline on June 30.
The eventual budget agreement started to form after Governor Dayton announced on July 14 that he would "reluctantly" pass the last proposal of the Republican legislative leadership before the shutdown, but with conditions.
Going into the 2010 state elections, the Minnesota government faced an approximately $5 billion budget shortfall in the coming 2011–2013 biennium, left over from the outgoing administration of Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty.
The Republican Party claimed that the shortfall was a result of unsustainable increases in spending, and pledged to balance the budget without raising taxes.
Senator Mark Dayton campaigned pledging to close the budget deficit by increasing income taxes on the state's highest earners.
Before the shutdown, a list of priority services was compiled and prepared by Minnesota Management and Budget, based on recommendations from state agencies.
Meanwhile, Republican legislators, led by House Speaker Kurt Zellers and Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch, demanded the budget be kept below $32 billion.
Republicans, including Koch and other legislative leaders, consistently insisted they would not accept a budget of over $34 billion, citing polls suggesting public opinion was on their side.
[14] Protesters supporting Dayton's tax increases and opposed to the Republicans, many from public employee unions, gathered at the capitol multiple times, including at the end of the session.
[11] By the day after the regular session ended, Dayton had vetoed all of the budget bills passed by the legislature, and said in a statement that he anticipated a shutdown would occur.
[12] Dayton did not call a special session of the legislature to further address the budget during May or June, claiming that the lack of agreement between him and Zellers and Koch would make it unproductive to do so.
Suspended state services included driving tests, childcare assistance, senior and disability linkage lines, criminal background checks, and road construction.
Judges Kathleen Gearin and Bruce W. Christopherson issued their rulings on July 7, finding that some programs could start again, including criminal background checks, public schools, and local government aid.
Gearin had previously heard a case from the Minnesota Zoo, which asked to remain open despite the shutdown, and another from the Canterbury Park horse racing track in Shakopee.
Laid-off employees were immediately eligible for unemployment benefits, and continued to receive health insurance, costing the state millions a week.
[24] Vandalism occurred at Afton State Park, where the main office was "ransacked" and a group of twelve "ripped off shingles and pieces of deck for firewood, burned additional furniture and wrote messages bragging about breaking in for free".
[26] In an arson case at the former home of Governor Dayton near Lake Harriet in Minneapolis, police were "investigating the possibility that someone [was] upset over last week's shutdown".
[2] Documents leaked after June 30 stated that the Republican leadership included anti-abortion provisions, a voter ID requirement, and a ban on stem cell research during the budget negotiations.
[32][33] The Republican offer called for an approximately $35 billion budget and no tax increases, and relied on delaying the payment of some K-12 school aid and issuing bonds against future tobacco revenue to cover the remaining gap.
[34] It differed from the previous Republican proposals in several provisions, particularly increasing the K-12 per-student formula by $50 per year to cover additional borrowing costs, adding $10 million to the University of Minnesota budget to equalize Minnesota State Colleges and Universities cuts, and restoring funding to the Department of Human Rights and the Trade Office.
[43] After winning control of the state legislature, the DFL passed a $38 billion budget containing the tax hikes on the wealthy that Dayton had wanted in 2011.
