Conrad Defiebre,  Star Tribune

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With the exception of 15,700 state employees facing layoffs, most Minnesotans might not feel severe effects from a partial government shutdown that would begin Friday if a legislative budget deadlock isn't resolved.

You could still renew most state licenses and even get a new driver's license if you've passed all the exams (you should act fast on the tests). Metro Transit operations would be unaffected for at least a month.

State nursing homes, regional treatment centers and veterans homes would remain fully staffed. And government health coverage would stay in force. Even laid-off state workers could find fellow employees still on the job to process their unemployment claims.

Call it Shutdown Lite.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who some believe would suffer the most political damage from a shutdown, has won court approval for his expansive view of the "core government functions" that would keep running.

Included are nearly 200 highway construction projects involving hundreds of millions of dollars for private contractors and thousands of jobs. Even freeway ramp meters would stay on.

But there would be some inconveniences for the general public, and some of them can be averted by fast action. Here's a short list of what you can do before the shutdown comes:

• Get your road or knowledge tests for a new driver's license ASAP. The state's 92 examining stations would be closed Friday, but there's still time to get in under the deadline. You can schedule an appointment online at www.mndriveinfo.org or show up and hope for an opening. Private and municipal deputy registrars around the state will be open to finish the paperwork for driver's and vehicle licenses.

• Map out nonstate picnic, rest and camping sites for your July 4 vacation. State parks and highway rest stops would be barricaded, but local parks, gas stations and private campgrounds offer the same accommodations.

• File now for a new real estate, insurance or building contractor's license. New licenses for many professions will not be issued after Thursday, although renewals will be. Doctors, dentists and lawyers (who are licensed by the fully funded Minnesota Supreme Court) will not be affected.

• Plan ahead for a Department of Transportation permit for an overweight or wide truck load. In the last week of May, 3,400 of these permits were issued, but none will be in a shutdown. They are good for seven days, so a permit obtained Thursday would remain in force until July 6.

• Don't delay filing for farm program reimbursements. Farmers who expect state money to help with the costs of organic certification or best management practices should get the paperwork in before processing would end Thursday.

Last update: June 29, 2005 at 2:05 PM

Associated Press

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Holding down a desk job for the State Patrol? You're safe, but get ready to jump in a squad car. Out of work and relying on state help to find your next job? Sorry, you're out of luck.

Edward Stringer, the former state Supreme Court justice appointed to set funding priorities ahead of a state government shutdown, sent his first recommendations Wednesday to Ramsey County District Judge Gregg Johnson. Johnson's final ruling will become a roadmap if Gov. Tim Pawlenty and legislative leaders can't approve a new state budget before Friday.

Of the 12 cases he heard, Stringer advised that five pleas for continued state funding be granted and two be denied. The other five, he said, were already covered by Johnson's previous order setting broad outlines for which state services would continue.

A union representative with the Minnesota State Patrol had argued that 25 officers who currently perform mostly administrative duties are still trained and equipped for patrol services if necessary, and shouldn't be furloughed.

Stringer agreed, and said the troopers "should be transferred to active patrol duties to the extent they are road ready.''

Other services that Stringer recommended be continued:

—State contracts with a company that provides ventilators and other medical equipment that allows sick children to remain in their homes.

—Funding for the Minnesota AIDS Project's prevention efforts and care for infected patients.

—At least a month's funding for transit services in greater Minnesota. Johnson had already ruled as much for Twin Cities transit.

Stringer denied a request from HIRED, a non-profit organization that helps unemployed people with job searches, which receives payments from the state's Dislocated Worker program.

Such programs "are generally secondary to unemployment insurance and do not directly involve a core function of government,'' Stringer wrote. Unemployment insurance has already been deemed a core function.

Stringer also issued a ruling stating that he would continue to hear appeals even if the shutdown happens. Johnson was expected to rule on Stringer's recommendations as early as Wednesday afternoon.

Pat Doyle,  Star Tribune

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Attorney General Mike Hatch and the Pawlenty administration sparred Wednesday over the extent to which Minnesotans would be covered under subsidized health programs should a partial government shutdown happen.

The dispute, which will be the subject of a court hearing today, centers around a June 23 court order that all Medical Assistance, General Assistance Medical Care and MinnesotaCare payments would continue in the event of a shutdown.

Hatch said that despite the order, the Department of Human Services didn't update a letter sent to medical assistance recipients telling them they might not be covered in a shutdown.

"Whoever got notified that they couldn't go to a clinic ought to be notified that they can go to a clinic," Hatch said.

A Human Services memo dated June 15 told how 357,000 notices would be sent to recipients of MinnesotaCare, Medical Assistance and General Assistance Medical Care "explaining how their health care may be affected" by a shutdown.

A notice sent to MinnesotaCare recipients read in part: "If state government shuts down on July 1, we may not be able to pay your health plan in July. We have asked your health plan to continue to give you services." The notice advised recipients to continue to use their regular medical providers and to call their health plan if they had questions. "Do not call the state office," it continued. "No one will be here to answer your questions."

The department classified some providers as critical and said they would be funded during a shutdown but classified other contractors as non-critical. The administration asked all providers to continue to provide services and said it would reimburse the contractors deemed non-critical after the budget impasse is resolved, said Brian McClung, press secretary for the governor.

He denied that the designations were likely to threaten health care for patients who rely on the programs. The administration would defend the department's designation of critical providers and non-critical ones at the court hearing today, he said.

Wednesday in Ramsey County District Court, Judge Gregg Johnson ordered the department to send new notices saying all Medical Assistance, General Assistance Medical Care and MinnesotaCare payments are considered critical and will be funded.

Eric Lipman, an administration attorney, told the judge that the department understood that "this is a fluid situation" and that new directives might be issued.

"I believe it is important that notices be sent," said Deputy Attorney General Kristine Eiden, according to a court transcript.

Last update: June 25, 2005 at 1:35 PM

Patricia Lopez,  Star Tribune

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With the shutdown clock ticking, House Republicans appeared to break with Gov. Tim Pawlenty on two key fronts this morning in their budget counteroffer to Senate DFLers.

The GOP offer proposes only a 20-cent-per-pack cigarette fee, rather than the governor's 75-cent increase. It also adopts an earlier Senate idea of a 0 million local-option income tax that would be levied by school districts at existing income tax rates.

The offer also resurrects an earlier Republican proposal for a racino that would put slots at Canterbury Park racetrack, raising 0 million.

The income tax increases in the House offer would be subject to voters' referendums and would vary district to district, depending on how much each school district decided to raise.

Unlike the Senate's proposed statewide income tax increase, the House version would apply only to those districts that opted for the tax. But once adopted, it would be levied on every taxpayer in that district, as opposed to the Senate proposal, which would impose a fourth tier on the state's top 40,000 wage earners.

Early reaction

Senate Taxes Chairman Larry Pogemiller, who is co-chairing the special session's tax working group, said the offer "has possibilities," although he predicted that a racino was unlikely to pass either the House or Senate, because it would need Democratic votes in both bodies.

House Taxes Chairman Phil Krinkie, who has been famously opposed to tax increases of any kind as well as to any expansion of gambling, said today that members of his caucus were concerned about rising property taxes and that the local-option income tax was designed to ease such increases.

The money raised by the House income tax increase would replace the 8 million in education budgetary shifts and the 2 million in property tax increases that had been built into its previous budget offer.

Of his own level of support for the proposal, Krinkie would say only that "we have a patchwork of support in our caucus for this proposal." Krinkie said his opposition to tax increases has not wavered. "I believe we have enough revenue to cover our needs," he said.

Pogemiller called the House decision to back away from property tax increases "smart," and said "we don't consider this a pie-in-the-sky proposal. We're going to take a careful look at it."

A gap, still

The House offer does not completely bridge what is thought to be an 0 million to billion gap between the two bodies, but brings it a step closer to closure.

Officials from the Pawlenty administration were not immediately available for comment on the House offer.

Without a budget deal, the state faces a partial government shutdown starting Friday. Legislators have said they expect to work through the weekend to avert that possibility.

Patricia Lopez,  Star Tribune

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A Ramsey County district judge ordered on Thursday that the state must continue to fund essential government services even if a budget impasse results in a partial government shutdown on July 1.

Chief Judge Gregg Johnson also appointed former Supreme Court Justice Ed Stringer to serve as the court's special master, with the power to decide which state-funded services would continue by court mandate.

The order had been sought in separate motions by Attorney General Mike Hatch and Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

Hatch in his motion asked the court to define core state functions broadly, allowing local units of government to participate in defining what they consider essential.

In the governor's motion, Eric Lipman, Pawlenty's associate general counsel, argued that essential services should be limited to a narrowly defined agency-by-agency list prepared by the administration. Broader definitions, he said, would lead to "unnecessary clashes with the legislative branch."

Allowing local units of government to participate, Lipman said, would make for "roving 'core function' conventions" and would invite "constitutional chaos."

Hatch later said he expects Johnson to rule in favor of the definition allowing for local government input. The same structure, he noted, was authorized by the court in 2001, when a court order was signed mere hours before a shutdown was averted by a last-minute budget deal.

Johnson, in fact, rejected Lipman's argument.

He ruled that local units would be allowed to define their essential services and take their case to the special master for approval. He also, however, included Pawlenty's list among the approved essential services.

That means Pawlenty met two particular objectives: continued funding for construction projects and for the mandates of the federal No Child Left Behind act.

Brian McClung, Pawlenty's press secretary, said the governor was "very pleased" at the promptness of Johnson's order and his decision to approve Pawlenty's list as part of the state's essential services.

Special master

As special master, Stringer, a former chief of staff to Republican Gov. Arne Carlson, would have broad powers to allow funding for continuing services.

In his motion, Hatch had recommended that Carlson and former DFL Gov. Wendell Anderson be appointed dual special masters, citing their executive experience.

But officials representing the administration registered their concerns about those appointments. Carlson and Anderson have criticized Pawlenty for his no-tax-increase pledge.

McClung later noted that "we're glad the court decided to choose someone who is not a lobbyist or paid political commentator to be special master. "

Anderson is a lobbyist for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota and for Medica. Carlson has worked as a political commentator from time to time.

McClung said no objection was raised to Stringer, who he said would be "open and fair."

Stringer said he was "very excited" about his new role. "Public service has been in my blood for a long time," he said. "If I can be of some help with the skills I've developed in the judiciary, mediation and government, I'd be delighted to bring them to bear."

Stringer, 70, was a Carlson-appointed Supreme Court justice for eight years, stepping down in 2002. Since then he has practiced at Briggs and Morgan, specializing in mediation. Before joining the Supreme Court, he was Carlson's chief of staff for four years.

Stringer said he won't wait for the June 30 deadline to start his new duties but will dig in immediately. Today he plans to meet with Hatch, Pawlenty and Judge Johnson "to work out some of the ground rules."

He would, he said, "find a nook at the Capitol, so I can be accessible and available. I see my responsibility as helping them keep the wheels on the track given the shutdown -- if that happens."

Resolution urged

In a statement from the bench, Johnson also urged leaders to see that matters don't get that far.

He encouraged them, despite his ruling, to resolve the budget impasse that has brought the state to the brink of shutdown, "in order that I might avoid having to put a government shutdown plan in effect."

After the hearing, Hatch said, "The people of the state should be severely embarrassed" that state officials had to seek such a court order.

"This is a failure of leadership," he said. "It's a failure of politics."

Later, McClung said: "The governor wants nothing more than to resolve the budget impasse."

He said Pawlenty met privately with Senate Majority Leader Dean Johnson, DFL-Willmar, for an hour and 45 minutes on Thursday afternoon, without staff members, to discuss possible options.

"It was a good meeting," McClung said. "They agreed they had some homework to do." The two planned to meet again Thursday night or today, McClung said.

Days to shutdown: 6