What is the most likely scenario if the state government shuts down on July 1?
Well, state parks will be closed, road construction and bridge building on state roads will cease, driver tests will not be given, highway rest stops will be closed, most DNR employees will be laid off, and money for school districts will not be sent, but summer school will go on—for two weeks or so—then the money will run out as school districts run out of their reserve funds, and local police and firefighters might have to be laid off due to a loss of state aid to cities.
Money to health and human services will continue, allowing continuation of food stamps, welfare benefits, Medicaid and Minnesota Care, and care for prisoners and residents of regional treatment centers will be maintained. New enrollees for Medicaid or Minnesota Care, however, might have a hard time getting applications processed during the shutdown.
Also closed will be the Minnesota Zoo and Canterbury Park and Running Aces horse track, employment centers, the state lottery, and the office of tourism.
People most affected by the shutdown — not counting all of those folks who want to camp and picnic at state parks — will be the 26,000 state employees who will be laid off while 13,000 workers will be kept on the job because they work in areas deemed “critical” to the state. Laid-off employees will not be eligible to receive vacation pay or severance pay.
Locally the following service may be affected at Jackson’s Motor Vehicle Office at Isak Hansen’s True Value in Lutsen:
“For DMV vehicle tabs, if it is a straight renewal, we can process throughout the shutdown. If the transaction requires us to go online for assistance or to live support, we will not be able to process your transaction until the budget impasse is resolved,” said Isak Hansen’s owner Tom Dwyer.
Expedited title transfers had to be completed by June 27 or they can’t be processed until the impasse is settled. Regular titles or other services also will be put on hold until the budget impasse is concluded.
Those transactions also include new licenses or renewals for boats, canoes, ATVs, or snowmobiles, said Dwyer.
Two Cook County road projects on County Road 8 and one striping project will be affected. The state provides quality control testing for county projects, and the county would be required to seek and pay a private party to provide that service.
Howard Hedstrom, one of the brothers who own and operate Hedstrom Lumber Mill, told the county board that all timber harvesting on state lands will cease if the state shuts down.
This represents about half of all timber harvesting in Minnesota, said Hedstrom. The mill depends on getting wood from outside of the county, and since much of that wood is harvested from state lands, this could greatly impact their ability to get saw logs.
On the high side, state courts will remain open and the State Patrol will continue operating. Also maintained will be veterans affairs, corrections, public safety and human services.
Some nonprofit child-care assistance programs funded through the state may be halted, but a court-appointed referee will look at this issue and at other social service programs and determine whether they should continue or be suspended.
And as far as determining what services are essential and non-essential, Ramsey District Court Chief Judge Kathleen Gearin said that if the budget impasse isn’t over by Friday morning she will order only the most critical functions of government, although she has been doing her best to prod the legislature and Governor Dayton to complete their work.
Governor Mark Dayton has until midnight July 1 to sign a series of budget bills passed by the legislature aimed a shoring up the state’s projected $5 billion deficit.
For the last several months Dayton and his Republican constituency have been in disagreement about how to balance the budget and wrangling over whether to fund a new Viking football stadium with public money or to collect taxes from the implementation of gambling at horse racing tracks. Until those disagreements are solved, the state will close most of its doors. The judge has ordered, however, that funding be maintained for the governor and the legislature so they may continue to hash out their differences. No summer vacation for them until they have completed their work.
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