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For now.
The reality is the self-congratulatory back-patting was nothing more than a fleeting silver lining in a tornado of bad news.
Apparently few freshman legislators saw it. In fact, it went virtually unnoticed that a few legislators — including Winona’s Rep. Gene Pelowski — broke rank and voted against the deal.
In his words, “If the national economy continues to worsen, we may be in real trouble next year with another budget deficit,” Pelowski said.
That’s no sky-is-falling prediction. It’s a fairly certain reality: Legislators on both sides of the political aisle have said the November revenue forecast for the state of Minnesota could mean a deficit as much as $2 billion, maybe $1 billion if we’re lucky. If that can be called luck.
“When you have a budget deficit and you increase spending in one area, that means you’re cutting from someone else. I am not convinced we had all our priorities in the right place,” Pelowski said.
And that’s why he voted against the deal that was brokered by legislative leadership.
In recent memory, our view of the Legislature has become skewed. Our legislative sessions have been marred by do-nothing stalemates and special sessions that rush to complete work that should have been done weeks prior. It seemed like the Legislature was more thrilled just to be heading home before summer than any substantive work it did. In other words, legislators are trying to trick us into believing they did a good job long enough for them to get out of St. Paul and head for cover. The reality is: What they’ve done is simply putting a Band-Aid on a state budget that is hemorrhaging. They’ve pushed back the clock a few months until after the election. They’ve bought time, but, with the state budget as it is, didn’t have the money to buy anything else.
There were indeed increases to nursing homes, some much-needed benefits for veterans and some aid to cities. But as Pelowski points out, with a deficit, increasing one area means cutting deeper in another.
Here’s what legislators don’t want you to know: There are continuing cuts to the courts; higher education cuts may mean paying more for in-state tuition; and hospitals and other social services — like Home and Community Options, the Developmental Achievement Center and the Winona’s ORC — will take a substantial whack.
What’s even worse is that, to balance the budget, the Legislature has just shifted some expense into next year, which means the state is simply waiting longer to pay its bills. Yet the bills don’t disappear. Secondly, the state has nearly depleted its rainy-day fund, meaning the money will be gone during what promises to be even bleaker economic times.
The Legislature should be patting itself on the back — but not because it finished its constitutionally required duty. It should be smiling because it got the good people of Minnesota to accept the idea that somehow — magically — the budget problem was solved.
Instead, court services are being slashed; Community Memorial Hospital will have nearly $1 million less funding; and money for Winona State University, our largest employer, continues to evaporate.
Pelowski’s right. We don’t have our priorities in the right place.
As the Senate Republicans made their post-session, post-mortem tour around the state, they noted that this supposed innovative fix really only gets most House members through the next election, but come November, there’ll be dark economic clouds covering St. Paul.
Pelowski should be lauded for casting a vote against the plan. It was indeed short-sighted and solved very little. Minnesota needs more politicians like Pelowski, who are willing to stand up and fix the problem rather than finding a way to delay until after the election.
As the 2009 session opens, Pelowski might be able to say with disappointment, “I told you so.”
That’s provided Pelowski could make it back to St. Paul without Highway 61 crumbling and the state still has enough money to turn the lights on at the Capitol.
We can brag all we want about our quality of life and the magnificent scenery in Minnesota. But that rings hollow when the courts are closed, higher education is closed because it’s not affordable and we’ve closed the doors on helping those who cannot fight for themselves.
Darrell Ehrlick, editor, writes on behalf of the Winona Daily News editorial board, which also includes publisher Rusty Cunningham and online editor Jerome Christenson. To comment, call (507) 453-3507 or send e-mail to letters@winonadailynews.com.
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