How Mankato affected by legislative session

By Joe Spear
Free Press Editor

While Gov. Tim Pawlenty and the DFL Legislature offered a somewhat muted victory party on resolving the state's $3 billion budget deficit, there were plenty of things even members weren't too happy about.

Here's how they play out for the average Mankato area resident.

The state budget deficit wasn't really solved, we borrowed about $2 billion of the $3 billion from schools, and are somewhat required to pay it back. My guess is small schools, mostly in rural areas, are harder hit than bigger suburban schools just because small school enrollment is declining, reserves are tight and many may have to borrow to get through.

Both parties seemed to have an agreement on spending $188 million or so, to get a federal match of $1.4 billion to cover health care for poor people, but the deal seemed to fall apart in the end, with the agreement being the next governor had the unilateral right, without legislative approval, to take or leave the $1.4 billion.

Hard to see why one would "leave it" but the thinking goes a Republican governor taking over would "leave it" so as not to appear to endorse the idea of Obama health plan after criticizing it earlier.

Principles come at a high price these days.

If the next governor doesn't take it, there appears to be some deal struck that would allow us to go back to bipartisan plan for GAMC, with rural hospitals getting more to encourage them to participate.

Almost none of them were willing to do so because their rates under the "reform" plan would not come close to covering their costs.

On the GAMC compromise, we gave the Legislature and the governor our first ever "bipartisan award." We won't take it back, even though the deal kind of fell apart. It was nice while it lasted.

The whole health care issue isn't really one of choosing more spending over less spending. We are required by federal law to provide health care, expensive emergency room health care, to people without insurance. (That's been on the books for decades, not Obama plan)

So, it's more a question of all taxpayers paying upfront to maybe save some catastrophic emergency room costs, or those who have health insurance paying through higher premiums. That includes state employees, who collectively can bargain for the taxpayer to pay more of those higher health care costs.

It's not if we're going to pay for health care for the poor, it's who pays and how are we going to share the burden.

Income taxes on wealthy won't happen. DFL tried again, governor vetoed again. Property taxes however, will likely continue their climb and local services will likely be cut. Look for schools to try to approve more operating levies (i.e. property taxes), and voters to approve them because they don't want to lose their neighborhood school and don't want to cut music and art and athletics and teachers.

Hope the next governor is creative at solving financial crises, because it sure looks like we'll have one.