Shutdown Ends in Minnesota

Minnesota legislators ended the state’s partial government shutdown early Saturday by passing a temporary spending plan that would send an estimated 9,000 state employees back to work.

Legislators also agreed on an outline for a two-year budget, which had eluded them since talks failed and they missed their June 30 deadline. They wrapped up both moves around 2 a.m.

The temporary “lights on” plan restores funding to the same levels as last fiscal year for the dozens of agencies that have been closed since July 1. The governor reviewed the temporary spending proposal and signed it less than two hours later.

The action buys the Legislature time to hash out the last details on measures for healthcare, taxes, education and transportation, and to persuade the governor to approve closing the final gaps in the state’s $30-billion budget.

Legislators plan to spend an additional $800 million for public schools and institute a 75-cent cigarette tax to raise more revenue.

On Saturday, state leaders expressed feelings of exhaustion -- and happiness that the dispute had come to an end. But few were happy with the ongoing political impasse that had brought a portion of their government to a grinding halt.

Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty told reporters that he compared it to a parent waiting for a teenager coming home after curfew: “I’m glad that they’re here safe, but I’m mad it’s late.”

House Minority Leader Matt Entenza agreed, and in a statement described it as a “frustrating, ugly and difficult process.”

For days, Pawlenty and the GOP-controlled House of Representatives repeatedly faced off against the state Senate, controlled by the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. At times, the budgetary discussions dissolved into yelling matches.

Unlike many states and the federal government, Minnesota does not have a mechanism for paying bills when a budget agreement is not in place. It was the first time the state had failed to get its budget in order.

Some legislators initially played down the disruption to public services. They said that closing highway rest stops over the Fourth of July weekend and not issuing driver’s licenses would have a minor effect on the public.

An emergency court order last month ensured that most of the state government’s core health and safety services would continue, and Pawlenty signed a series of measures that protected other state functions, including tax collection and unemployment services.

But as the days passed, the public mood turned grim. On Wednesday, hundreds of angry state workers gathered at the Capitol building in St. Paul, chanting in protest and voicing their frustration with the politicians.

In particular, legislators had fought over whether to institute the tax on cigarettes and debated the fate of a controversial casino project at a racetrack.