The breadth and depth of Minnesota's budget woes should not only mean that all obvious options for cost-cutting and revenue generation are on the table, but that lawmakers and Gov. Tim Pawlenty think creatively about solutions. But it's just as important for state officials to be realistic, real fast.

Some of the most intriguing ideas that are being suggested, such as privatizing all or portions of either the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) or the Minnesota State Lottery, face formidable legal and marketplace hurdles, making it improbable, if not impossible, that anything could be accomplished in time to help balance the state's books for the next biennium.

Proponents point to the $2.5 billion the city of Chicago received upfront for a 99-year lease for Midway Airport. But that agreement was part of a 1996 act that established a Federal Aviation Administration pilot program that allowed for five airports to be privatized, with only one being a "large hub air carrier airport." From passage of the legislation to the end of the public comment period on Dec. 22, it's been a 12-year process.

Because of the limitations of the pilot program, turning MSP over to the private sector in a sale or lease would violate federal law. Of course, it's always possible that the law could be changed, especially if U.S. Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., used his power as chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to advocate for it. But it's unlikely, especially given the ambitious legislative agenda that will come from a new administration and a new Congress, that it could be done in time.

Similarly, it wouldn't be easy -- or quick -- to privatize the lottery, as some states have already done. "The Minnesota Constitution basically mandates that the state is the only entity that can own and operate a lottery," according to Clint Harris, the lottery's director. As with airport privatization, it would take a significant shift -- in this case a constitutional amendment approved by voters -- in order to realize the budget benefits. The earliest it could be put on the ballot would be 2010.

In addition to the legal and legislative hurdles inherent in the airport and lottery proposals, potential private investors might find it difficult to raise funds in the middle of a severe credit crunch.

Both approaches may be in the long-term interests of the state and are worth a serious look. With or without a budget crisis, if the private solutions pass the public policy tests and cost-benefit analyses now, they should be pursued even if they would take years to implement. In the meantime, state leaders face monumental and immediate challenges.

Indeed, now is the time to put aside politics and begin what most acknowledge will be the hard choices facing Pawlenty and lawmakers. Minnesotans deserve no less. "The public is more ready than the politicians realize," said Sean Kershaw, executive director of the nonpartisan Citizens League.

Politicians better be ready, too. They should keep all ideas -- including the eventual privatization of existing government services -- on the table.

But even more critically, they need to focus on ideas that can be accomplished by the July 1 deadline they face to close an estimated $4.8 billion shortfall over the next biennium.