As I write this, there are still a few days left of the “regular” session of the Legislature; however, the budget agreement is elusive and there certainly hasn’t been anything “regular” about the past few months.

As usual, Minnesotans are divided in messaging and in whom they voted to represent them—we historically have been the state with the most interesting mix of liberals and conservatives and the elections’ outcomes have tended to give us some measure of checks and balances. What our lobbyists and others have found during these past few weeks is a phenomenon that is quite unique to these times—so many newly-elected members of both bodies elected with what they believe to be a clear mantra of “live within our means”—that the end game compromise is nearly impossible to reach. So far, the GOP's freshman class shows few signs of backing down, even though the state may be on track for a special session or even a rare government shutdown.

Governor Dayton has been firm in his insistence that the state's rich are not paying their "fair share." Republicans—particularly the freshmen—say voters sent them to the Capitol to stand against bigger government and higher spending and state that they won't cave on their most basic principle. A position like that doesn't leave a lot of room for compromise, and finalizing a biennial budget with differing parties and positions has always been about compromise. No one side is going to get everything they want—which is why it appears we are headed to adjournment on May 23 without a balanced budget.

The Legislature and Governor are currently on the path to special session(s) by passing tax and spending bills that Governor Dayton almost surely would veto. Governor Dayton has already taken the one compromise step he believes he needs to take by cutting in half his proposal to increase income taxes on higher earners. So what happens next to the budget and the issues impacting older adult services?

Read the rest of the CEO blog online—and then leave a comment there and let me know what you think!

Patti Cullen, CAE
952.851.2487
pcullen@careproviders.org

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