Minnesota’s Taxpayers Paying Heavy Price for Unnecessary Shutdown
by Clyde Weiss | July 05, 2011
Friday’s government shutdown in Minnesota is a tragedy for the 22,000 mostly state public service workers who were told to stay home without pay. But it is also a shame, because the Republican-led Legislature is willing to ignore the needs of the majority of state taxpayers who depend on the services those workers provide, just to protect the state’s wealthiest taxpayers.
Gov. Mark Dayton (D) was forced to shut down the state government when Republican legislative leaders refused his plan to ask 7,700 Minnesota millionaires to pay their fair share of income taxes.
If these lawmakers truly wanted to find a budget solution that works for everyone, they would not ask the majority of taxpayers to sacrifice for those who are already benefiting from tax breaks that favor the rich and powerful – breaks that the rest of us are not so lucky to get.
“We are disgusted that the Republican Legislature that has demonized us and laid us off has failed to do the one job that the constitution demands: Pass a balanced budget into law,” says Eliot Seide, and AFSCME International vice president and director of Council 5, which represents 18,000 state workers (including 10,000 who have been laid off). “They will be paying themselves while Minnesotans are without vital public services and are struggling just to survive.”
Already, Minnesotans are missing vital services that public workers provide. State parks are closed to campers, rest areas are barricaded, and nearly 100 road projects are on pause. Highways are heaving from blistering temperatures and the Department of Transportation’s skeleton crews can’t keep up with emergency repairs. Watch this video of AFSCME Local 221 highway maintenance worker Mike Lindholt describing the consequences of the shutdown.
Council 5 will hold a huge rally on Wednesday to point out the hypocrisy of the Republican Legislature favoring millionaires over the middle class – a decision that has caused the largest layoff in state history. The event, billed as “Downeyville,” will spotlight the policies of State Rep. Keith Downey (R-Edina) and his allies. Downey has authorized bills to permanently cut the state workforce by 5,000 employees, and to eliminate the collective bargaining rights of public school teachers and state employees.
AFSCME International Sec.-Treasurer Lee A. Saunders will address the rally, which is expected to draw 2,000 laid-off state workers. It begins at 4:30 p.m. at the Capitol.
