It costs the state serious cash to plan for having no money.
Back in 2001, Minnesota faced the possibility of a government shutdown. That was averted when lawmakers and then-Gov. Jesse Ventura agreed at the last minute on a two-year budget.
After the agreement, state officials calculated how much the shutdown planning -- just the planning -- cost the state.
"The dollar amount that they gave to that was $2.7 million," former Minnesota Management and Budget Assistant Commissioner Judy Plante told a House Committee in January of this year. "That's the effort that went into it back in 2001…and an unknown amount of impact to those construction contracts where things needed to ramp down and ramp back up."
The cost of planning for the possible 2011 shutdown isn't yet clear. The state will likely only be able to determine it after the fact, MMB spokesman John Pollard said.
Lawmakers and the governor have just three weeks to agree on a two-year budget or state government will shutdown on July 1.
