From 15 people at the Bureau of Mediation Services to 115 at the Perpich Center for Arts Education to more than 4,000 at the Department of Natural Resources, lay-off notices go out to Minnesota state employees today. If the legislature and the governor don’t reach budget deals by the end of the month, more than 9,000 government employees could be out of work. Here’s the list:
Perpich Center for Arts Education – 115
Department of Education – 405
Minnesota State Academies (Academy for the Blind, Academy for the Deaf) – 261
Department of Agriculture – 489
Minnesota Board of Animal Health – 43
Department of Natural Resources – 4294
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency – 940
Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources – 97
Department of Commerce – 351
Explore Minnesota Tourism – 57
Department of Employment and Economic Development – 1490
Minnesota Public Facilities Authority – 8
Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals – 10
Department of Labor & Industry – 460
Public Utilities Commission – 56
Bureau of Mediation Services – 15
MN.IT Agency Staff (IT employees that support the agencies listed above) – 360
Total employees – 9,451
Some state employees are classified as “critical” or “essential,” meaning that if they don’t work, there’s a threat to public health or safety. You’ll notice that the Minnesota Highway Patrol, for example, is not on the list. Some of the employees receiving lay-off notices today may get reclassified as essential. I’m betting that the Board of Animal Health is essential, given the current avian flu epidemic.
State government should not shut down. With a $1.9 billion surplus, failure to pass a budget is inexcusable. Instead of stuffing the omnibus budget bills with poison pills, the House Republican majority needs to get down to the business of governing.
For a review of the issues at stake, see:
- Four things you need to know about Minnesota’s special session (News Day)
- Beyond Pre-K: What MN schools need from the special session (News Day)
- Buffer zones, bees, and turkeys in the special session (News Day)
- Three reasons Dayton should veto the environmental bill (News Day)
- 23 DFL state senators sign letter to Dayton about “four of the worst provisions” in vetoed HF846 (Bluestem Prairie)
- Vetoed jobs bill would have blown $1.3 million hole in MN Highway User Tax Distribution Fund (Bluestem Prairie)
- House GOP stomps on dignity of transgender kids to troll Dayton in ed bill dealmaking (Bluestem Prairie)
Click here for memories of the last Minnesota government shutdown, when legislators kept getting paid, but workers got laid off or worked without paychecks in 2011.
Mary Turck
News Day 