Polinaut: May 3, 2008 Archive

Budget talks will continue tonight

Posted at 3:55 PM on May 3, 2008 by Tom Scheck

The governor and state lawmakers met behind closed doors for about three and a half hours today. They broke off their talks but are expected to meet at 8 pm tonight. Pawlenty and DFL legislative leaders are trying to reconcile their differences on a $935 million projected budget deficit. The amount of spending cuts, the use of a health fund and the best way to reign in rising property taxes are some of the sticking points. DFL Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller said talks are going well but said the governor needs to make some decisions.

"It's a question of him being decisive now. If he's decisive in the area of getting business done, this is easily doable. If he's either indecisive or doesn't want to do business, we will obviously be like last summer chatting about special sessions."

Governor Pawlenty was not available to comment. His spokesman said progress was made but there's still more work to do.

Republican Senate Minority Leader Dave Senjem said it was a "great meeting."

"For now, it's how can we mold this thing to the satisfaction of everybody? and again I think we approached that with good spirit and good intentions and the desire we come back tonight and keep going."

The Legislature has about two weeks left before the constitutional deadline to adjourn.

Governor Peek a Boo

Posted at 3:57 PM on May 3, 2008 by Tom Scheck

Governor Pawlenty and his staff did some shifty dodging this afternoon to avoid the press corps. Several reporters (including me) were staking out budget negotiations and were waiting to speak with Gov. Pawlenty. When a reporter called and asked "Is the governor going to come out and talk with us or do we need to chase him?" the response was "You need to chase him."

So we tried and failed.

After covering several exits (there were four of us), we ended up missing the governor. His security detail took his car and drove it to an exit that wasn't staffed by a reporter. A spokesman later said "The governor just called and said he was sorry he couldn't meet with you but he had to go meet with the families of fallen soldiers."

Why couldn't he say that himself instead of going through the trouble of evading us?

UPDATE:

Budget talks just broke off around 10:45 PM. The governor was more than generous with his time and answered all of our questions.

No deal but more talks

Posted at 11:49 PM on May 3, 2008 by Tom Scheck

Governor Pawlenty and legislative leaders broke off budget talks at about 11 pm. They plan on meeting again at 1 pm on Sunday.

They met behind closed doors for a total of five hours on Saturday. They didn't reach an agreement but said they're closer to resolving their differences on erasing the state's $935 million projected budget deficit. One sticking point is whether to use money from a health care fund to balance the budget. The governor said he wants to use $125 million from the fund, something DFL legislative leaders object to.

"The Senate DFL has indicated that they don't want to use it for certain things, we want to use it for certain things so that's an obstacle. As we tie that into the discussion of health care reform overall there may be some opportunities there but we'll have to wait and see."

Other roadblocks include disagreement over which state programs should be cut from the budget and the best way to keep property taxes in check. Pawlenty said there's been a willingness to get to an agreement but there is still some work to do.

DFL House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher said she's optimistic a deal can be reached especially since everyone is in the same room talking.

"Our commitment is for a balanced budget to be signed by the governor and it seems like a good sign that we're still a couple of weekends out here from what is supposed to be the final adjournment day of this legislative session so I think we feel that that's a positive sign."

Lawmakers have about two weeks until they reach the constitutional deadline for adjournment.

Midnight stroll

Posted at 11:52 PM on May 3, 2008 by Tom Scheck

As I posted earlier, the governor and legislative leaders will resume budget negotiations on Sunday afternoon. During a break in negotiations on Saturday night, Governor Pawlenty came out of his office and talked with the three committed reporters (Rachel Stassen-Berger, who has more about the night on the Political Animal, Eric Eskola and myself) who were staking out the budget talks.

After ten minutes or so, Sen. Pogemiller and House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher returned to continue budget negotiations. Pogemiller asked the governor to take a stroll around the Capitol to chat with the DFL crew. The governor agreed and returned ten minutes later. When he returned within earshot of reporters, Pawlenty jokingly shook Kelliher's hand and said they agreed to use the entire Health Care Access Fund to balance the budget. As you know by now, that's been a sticking point in budget talks.

The governor and lawmakers all agree that budget talks are going well and they're optimistic that they can compromise on a deal. That's a dramatic difference from last year's talks.