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A rally to make a point on state funding
From beat cops to librarians, local government workers sent a message that state aid cuts have devastating effects.
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Several hundred police officers, firefighters, librarians and community workers gathered at the State Capitol on Thursday to talk about what they believe deep cuts in state-funded Local Government Aid (LGA) might mean to their cities.
Ken Zepeda, a St. Paul firefighter, said a loss of 14 percent of the department's budget through possible cuts would mean a drop of one fire company that would prolong response times. Amy Vokal, a Mankato public safety commander, said the loss of staff from police reserves and in funding for training would have jeopardized the recent safe evacuation of 260 residents when a truck spilled liquid ammonia. A Minneapolis community program leader, Sherena Gibbs, told the story of a young man adrift, who was helped by recreation programs and after-school activities and is now on his way to being a member of the State Patrol, and how those programs are in jeopardy.
The city of Moorhead, currently battling flood waters, has spent a half million dollars in the past three days purchasing sand, using a reserve fund that could have been depleted if cuts in Local Government Aid had reduced city budgets.
Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who has proposed cutting the local aid by 10 percent in fiscal 2010-11, has said cities would be irresponsible to make those cuts from public safety and other essential services.
But Robin Madsen, a bookmobile librarian in St. Paul for 27 years, talked about how families without resources use the library. She told of an elderly man who uses a cane who comes every two weeks to the bookmobile stop. The library got a phone call at 3:40 the morning after a recent stop. The man wasn't feeling well because he was in pain but was reading the latest book he had received. "That's what LGA pays for," Madsen said.
At the rally, Senate Tax Chairman Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, criticized Pawlenty for adhering to a no-new-tax pledge at the same time that local property taxes have increased by $2.7 billion from 2003 to 2008, a 53.8 percent rise. "I will argue that Governor Pawlenty has abandoned local governments under his tenure," Bakk told the crowd.
Responding later at an unrelated news conference, Pawlenty said some local governments seem to think that even a slight reduction in Local Government Aid gives them no option but to raise property taxes. That's not true, he said -- they can freeze public employee salaries or use their rainy day reserves. Mark Brunswick • 651-222-1636
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Current state office holders
Governor: Tim Pawlenty
One of only a few prominent Republicans to win a competitive re-election contest in the Democratic sweep of 2006, Tim Pawlenty is widely seen as politically shrewd and naturally likable.
- Lt. Governor: Carol Molnau
- Secretary of State: Mark Ritchie
- Attorney General: Lori Swanson
- State Auditor: Rebecca Otto
Minnesota's political giants: Learn more about the men and women who have shaped Minnesota's political history.
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