State Representative David Bly, MN District 25B

It seems a bit disingenuous for Republicans to say they were shocked by actions of the DFL Senate when their refusal to support efforts to ‘keep the lights on’ and insistence on interjecting reforms that had not passed in regular session should be brought into negotiations. There are two sides to the story and for the record here is what I am hearing from the DFL.

From the DFL Senate

Friends,

Below is information for your use. The governor’s phone number is
651-296-3391 if you want to call and weigh in today.

Pioneer Press has an online poll you may want to weigh in on.

It’s important to remember that very single Democrat in the Senate and House voted to keep government operating. The DFL Senate will continue to pursue that course of action again today. Everyone Democrat agrees that government operations should resume immediately.

Jack Rice (WCCO Radio) is live at the Capitol today (Friday) from today at 12 noon if anyone wants to call in, the number is 612 or 651 989-9226 or email: jrice@wccoradio.cbs.com

Background information on Breakdown:

At 11:59 p.m. on June 30, 2005, the majority Republicans in the Minnesota House of Representatives voted to shut down government for the first time in the 148 years that Minnesota has been a state.

Earlier in the day, Senate Democrats passed legislation to keep state government running. Senate Democrats voted to keep 10,000 state workers on the job, voted to keep the highway rest stops open, voted to keep the warning signals on the highways operating, and voted to keep allow Minnesotans to get their driver’s licenses.

All the House Republicans had to do was approve the Senate’s lights on bill and the government would not have shut down. Instead, 67 of the 68 House Republicans voted to fire 10,000 state workers, voted to close our rest stops, voted to shut off the highway signs and voted to not allow Minnesotans to get their driver’s licenses.

Every single DFLer in the state legislature — every DFL Senator and every DFL Representative — voted to keep government open. Every DFLer voted to keep 10,000 state workers working, and every DFLer voted to keep our rest stops open. Every DFLer voted to keep the highway signs on and every DFLer voted to let our taxpayers get their driver’s licenses.

Every Republican Senator except one, and every Republican Representative, except one, voted to shut down the state’s government.

On the morning after, 10,000 state employees wonder if and when they will work again, highway rest areas sit dark on the busiest travel weekend of the year, while highway signs are turned off and thousands of Minnesotans in need of driver’s licenses sit with no help. Meanwhile, all of Minnesota waits for leadership from a Governor seemingly unconcerned about completing the task at hand. In place of leadership, we get more blame games from a chief executive clearly unable to lead his own party and unwilling to do what’s best for the state he’s been elected to govern.

Background on what DFL is fighting for:
After three years of budget deficits, the Governor proposed another budget that would create yet another deficit for 2008-09. The governor’s budget takes the problems we face today and shifts them into the future.

We have a special session and an unresolved budget because Gov. Pawlenty is protecting 40,000 people that are making more than $250,000 at the expense of the other 2.2 million taxpayers in the state.

The Governor and House Republicans froze and then cut spending for schools. The education funding cut and freezes lead to larger class sizes, less educational opportunities for our students, and parents paying many more fees for their children to participate in activities. It’s time to stand up and fight for education in Minnesota.

Governor Pawlenty has raided funds dedicated to health care to cover his budget deficits. The Governor and Republicans had set their sights on dismantling MinnesotaCare and denying health care coverage to tens of thousands of working Minnesotans. The Governor and Republicans inaccurately and unfairly describe MinnesotaCare as “welfare healthcare” which isn’t true - enrollees pay monthly premiums. Enrollees are working people and farmers. Referring to MinnesotaCare as
welfare healthcare is an insult to the working men and women of this state who are paying their share to ensure they are covered.

We have a special session and an unresolved budget because Gov. Pawlenty is protecting 40,000 people that are making more than $250,000 at the expense of the other 2.2. million taxpayers in the state.

And this from the newly elected DFL State Chair:

The Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party
Brian Melendez, Chair Donna Cassutt, Associate Chair
255 East Plato Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55107 www.dfl.org
Phone: 651-293-1200 Toll Free: 800-999-7457 Fax: 651-251-6325

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 1, 2005

Senate Democrats did their Job to keep Minnesota Open
DFL Chair: House Republicans shut down government by rejecting Senate DFLers’ “lights on” bill

St. Paul - State DFL Chair Brian Melendez at a state Capitol news conference today (Friday) laid out the two Parties’ roles in the partial shutdown of Minnesota government that resulted when the Republican-controlled House rejected the “lights on” bill that the Senate Democrats adopted yesterday:

“The DFL-led Senate did its job yesterday by passing a ‘lights on’ bill that would have kept the government open while negotiations continued toward a permanent budget. Every DFLer in the Senate, and every DFLer in the House, voted for this bill, which was clearly necessary and should have been uncontroversial.

“But with one exception, every Republican in both the House and the Senate voted in favor of shutting down the government.

“For weeks, the Senate DFLers have been offering proposal after proposal, in the hope of negotiating a compromise that would have kept the state government open. But Governor Pawlenty wouldn’t even come to the table until this week. And when the Governor’s tactics had finally driven the government to the brink of shutdown, the Senate DFLers passed the only bill under consideration that would have kept the government open. But the Republicans instead voted in favor of a shutdown.”

“Every single DFL legislator voted to make sure that the state’s workers weren’t hung out to dry when government shut down. Almost every House and Senate Republican voted to shut down government. The Republicans are holding Minnesota hostage because they aren’t willing to compromise. By voting against the “lights on” bill and in favor of a shutdown, the Governor and the House Republicans sent a message that they won’t support the over 9,000 state employees and the millions of Minnesotans they represent by keeping the government open. The DFL Party is determined to fix this terrible situation, to stop using people’s lives as bargaining chips, and to get the work of the people done.”

Those Representatives who voted to shut down the government were:

Abeler *Abrams *Anderson, B. *Beard *Blaine
Bradley *Brod *Buesgens *Charron *Cornish
Cox *Cybart *Davids *Dean *DeLaForest
Demmer *Dempsey *Dorman *Eastlund *Emmer
Erhardt *Erickson *Finstad *Garofalo *Gazelka
Gunther *Hackbarth *Hamilton *Heidgerken *Holberg
Hoppe *Johnson, J. *Klinzing *Knoblach *Kohls
Krinkie *Lanning *Magnus *McNamara *Meslow
Nelson, P. *Newman *Nornes *Olson *Ozment
Paulsen *Penas *Peppin *Peterson, N. *Powell
Ruth *Samuelson *Seifert *Severson *Simpson
Smith *Soderstrom *Sviggum *Sykora *Tingelstad
Urdahl *Vandeveer *Wardlow *Westerberg *Westrom
Wilkin *Zellers

I am disappointed in our Representative who continually calls for bipartisanship and yet when he could make a difference chooses to stick to the party line. I think he should also own up to his part in the decision to shut down government and not just play politics and blame the other side of the aisle.