GOP says public employees need to be part of budget solution

Posted at 3:21 PM on February 18, 2011 by Tom Scheck (3 Comments)
Filed under: MN Legislature, Mark Dayton

Republican leaders in the Minnesota House and Senate say public employee contracts will have to be part of a solution for the state's projected $6.2 billion budget deficit.

With a labor-friendly Democrat in the governor's office, GOP leaders say they are not pushing for the sweeping changes that Republicans have proposed in Wisconsin. But bills have been introduced here to reduce the state workforce, freeze wages and and trim benefits for public employees. House Majority Leader Matt Dean of Dellwood said Minnesota can't escape the issue.

"Any solution in any state in the country is going to involve changes in how we deal with our labor contracts," Dean said. "It's just a fact of life."

Dean and GOP Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch would not say if they supports a proposed constitutional amendment to block union membership and dues as a condition of employment in Minnesota.

Governor Dayton told MPR News on Friday that some of the Republican proposals put forward are "rash." He said the Legislature should be careful about considering these issues.

"It underscores how the deliberations need to be very careful and very respectful." Dayton said. "People whose lives that are going to be affected by actions that a Legislature takes and a governor takes deserve to be heard and their rights need to be respected."

Dayton has been endorsed by several public employee unions. His budget plan would cut six percent of the state's workforce, roughly 800 people.

Comments (3)

I love how Dayton demands a respectful conversation when it comes to government employees and union members. However, he can demogogue "the rich" and say they don't pay their fair share. What a hypocrite.

Posted by Laura | February 22, 2011 12:07 PM

There's nothing disrespectful about saying everybody should pay their fair share. What IS disrespectful and un-civil is how Republicans want to slash budgets that take care of our most vulnerable and poorest citizens, but won't make millionaires and billionaires pay a little bit more in taxes.

And WHAT hypocrisy? Dayton is willing to pay his fair share. And I'll bet you anything that he donates a bigger share of his income to charity than any Republican in the House or Senate.

Posted by Jamie | February 22, 2011 5:49 PM

A reasonable way to reduce wage expenditures is to remove the classified postions that Pawlenty created, in order to fill them with his political appointees, in an effort to try to keep his people in place after he left office. These people do nothing useful--they sit in these jobs, trying to prevent agencies from doing their jobs, in the name of "less government", but they are happy to suckle from the public teat while doing it. Less government indeed!

Posted by Nancy A. | February 24, 2011 8:52 AM

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