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State budget summit to be a private affair
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Next week's legislative summit to address Minnesota's ongoing financial crisis, which includes three former governors, will be held behind closed doors, organizers announced Thursday.
With the Tuesday summit already being boycotted by Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who said it would largely "rehash already established concerns," the closing of the meeting to the public was another sign of controversy for the event. A spokesman for House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher, DFL-Minneapolis, an organizer, said some participants wanted "to have the ability to have some private sessions."
Organizers said participants, who include a host of former legislative leaders and state financial advisers, would hold a press briefing afterward. DFL legislative leaders said they organized the summit, which comes after Pawlenty and DFL legislators failed to reach a budget solution this spring, to explore long-range strategies to cope with the worsening financial outlook.
Former Republican Gov. Arne Carlson said he insisted on the closed session and would not attend otherwise. However, he said that if Pawlenty would agree to attend if the session was open, he would push to make the meeting public. "Even public institutions need their moments of privacy, just as any family does," Carlson said. He also complained that the media had covered the politics but not the public policy issues surrounding the budget crisis.
MIKE KASZUBA
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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
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