The 2011 state government shutdown is a fading memory for many Minnesotans.
But it's still a sore spot for some -- for example, vacationers whose state parks reservations were canceled, racetrack operators whose season was shortened, highway contractors whose projects were disrupted, and 22,000 state employees locked out of their jobs for 20 anxious days.
Some of what galled those most-affected Minnesotans was that for most of their neighbors, life as usual continued. State government belongs to every Minnesotan. But the consequences of its dysfunction in the summer of 2011 were confined unfairly to an unlucky few.
It's understandable that they would ask to be spared in the future, should another impasse at the Capitol delay authorization of a new state budget in 2013 or beyond. Legislators tend to be sympathetic to their pleas.
Who wouldn't agree that the operation of Minnesota State Colleges and Universities ought not be interrupted by a budget fight? Or that electrical inspections on construction projects ought to continue? Or that the Minnesota Zoo ought to be open at the peak of the summer season?
But say yes to individual appeals -- there have been at least seven in bills introduced during the current legislative session -- and the unlucky few affected by any future shutdown would be fewer and unluckier than they were in 2011. Primarily, they will be state employees -- a unionized group that the two major political parties view in differing lights.
If a shutdown's pain is heaped on state employees alone, budget impasses will become more politically acceptable. Chances are good that they'll occur more frequently and last longer. And if they do, Minnesota's reputation for orderly government will erode, to long-term ill effect for every resident of the state.
That's why the Legislature should reconsider its approach to the batch of special-pleader shutdown bills that have begun to reach the House and Senate floors -- and why DFL Gov. Mark Dayton should be wary of them if they hit his desk one at a time.