County Board Meets With Area Lawmakers About Shutdown

A few hours after the Washington County Board was briefed on how the , commissioners met with a large delegation of area lawmakers to get a sense of how budget negotiations are coming along.

According to Sen. Ted Lillie, discussions have become “more deliberate in the last week or so than they have been previously.” The GOP has matched Gov. Mark Dayton’s funding levels for public safety and K-12 education, Lillie said. Those two items only account for about 15 percent of the budget, he told Patch after the meeting.

Tuesday’s meeting was attended by Lillie, Rep. Kathy Lohmer, Rep. Andrea Kieffer, Sen. Ray Vandeveer, Rep. Bob Dettmer, Sen. Chuck Wiger, Rep. John Kriesel and Rep. Nora Slawik. (The meeting also included talks about transit in Washington County and issues with tax classifications for groups like the VFW and American Legion.)

Legislators talked about the possibility of a  “lights-on bill” could keep some services in tact while budget negotiations continue. Board Chair Gary Kriesel called such a measure “the only reasonable approach.”

A big concern for the county is the Broadway Avenue project in Forest Lake, Commissioner Dennis Hegberg said, noting that it’s the largest construction project the county has ever undertaken. A delay would hurt businesses in the area, he said, and Commissioner Gary Kriesel said suspending the project could cost Washington County $2 million.

(For more details of how Washington County is planning to handle a government shutdown, click .)

Previous government shutdowns were less impactful than one this year would be, Lillie said, because parts of those budgets had been agreed upon. This year, the significant parts of the budget are yet unresolved, he said.

“Hopefully, we can find a way to finish this,” Lillie said.