Kelliher: No Statehood Day agreement

Posted at 5:11 PM on May 11, 2010 by Tom Scheck
Filed under: MN Legislature, Tim Pawlenty

Governor Pawlenty and legislative leaders met behind closed doors for a little over an hour this afternoon and are no closer to a deal. DFL House Speaker Margaret Kelliher, who is running for governor, started her comments to reporters by joking that there's "No Statehood Day agreement."

Kelliher said Pawlenty has not come up with any "new ideas" to balance the state's budget. She said Pawlenty has authorized Republicans to work with DFL leadership to find an additional $400 million in spending cuts. DFL Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller has said Republicans who want to cut government better put up the votes to do it.

Republican Senate Minority Leader Dave Senjem said he'll work with Senate Democrats to come up with the cuts.

"We all know that these are difficult times and we're going to have to make difficult cuts," Senjem said. "Cuts, frankly, that none of us want to make but as you look where we are, I'm convinced that we're going to have to make them. It's not going to be easy. We're going to have to get some help certainly from the other side but we're going to try to put something together that we can all agree on."

This is the first DFL legislative leaders have met with Pawlenty since he vetoed a budget balancing bill that relied on an income tax hike on Minnesota's top earners to erase the state's budget deficit.

One key sticking point is whether House and Senate Democrats will agree to a school payment delay to balance the budget. Gov. Pawlenty wants the shift ratified into law but Democrats say they won't do it unless there's an ability to pay it back. Pawlenty's spokesman called it a "lynch pin" to the deal and said the K12 shift has been done in the past.

Legislative leaders are scheduled to meet privately with Pawlenty again at 7pm.

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