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State Representative Tim Kelly
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-8635
For more information contact: Jason Wenisch 651-296-2317
NEWS COLUMN
BUDGET WAITING GAME CONTINUES
This past week, lawmakers from both parties travelled across the state to hold listening sessions regarding Minnesota’s $5 billion budget deficit. By all accounts, these meetings are doing little in terms of helping solve the budget problem.
I have heard many comments that this has been nothing more than group after group suggesting that we cannot cut their programs. Few, if any, real solutions were offered.
On the other hand, Senator Murphy and I had a fantastic turnout in Red Wing last week with many different groups represented. The message that I took away from that meeting was more about getting to work. I heard many groups acknowledge the fact that they were prepared for cuts. The point they wanted to make clear was to treat all groups fairly.
I would agree with this basic philosophy. As a government we need to support those who cannot support themselves and prioritize. These groups include the very young in need, the disabled and the elderly.
We know what the issue is. We have spent more money than what we have taken in. We need to act. It’s frustrating to watch this process unfold so slowly. As a businessman, if I knew a major problem was looming and I chose to sit back and watch, our business would be destroyed.
At times, if feels like we just hurry up and wait. First, we waited for the first budget forecast in November. Then, we waited for the Governor’s proposed budget in January. Now, we’re waiting for the second budget forecast in early March.
All the while, we’ve known we have to trim at least $5 billion from the budget. To date, we’ve not even discussed, much less approved a bill that reduces any government spending.
To me, we should be working together on solutions. At the very least, we should be finding points of common ground. Why not find areas that Republicans and Democrats agree on and be that much further along in the budget setting process? We could get the easy topics out of the way first, and worry about the more difficult issues down the line.
Instead, we see more posturing and looking to lay blame. By doing so, we’ll likely wait until the last days of session to reach a final agreement. This makes me nervous as we all know what happens when we try to solve problems under time constraints. Mistakes are sure to happen.
It’s frustrating that we’re not even talking about budget solutions. To me, we’re all in this together - Republicans and Democrats. Let’s put the posturing aside and solve this crisis the best way we can on behalf of all Minnesotans.
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