Shutdown Roundup: Latest and Local News on State Government

Here are links to some of the latest and most local news coverage of the state-budget battle and the state-government shutdown that looms if the governor and Legislature don't agree on a budget by July 1.

The Basics
You can find answers to basic Why? and What-if? questions in an FAQ post at Minnesota Public Radio.

The Latest
Negotiations are off and on between Gov. Mark Dayton, a DFLer, and leaders of the Republican-controlled Legislature, the Duluth News Tribune reported. But the budget ball is also in the courts, with legal briefs asking for greater or lesser degrees of judicial-branch involvement from Gov. Dayton, Attorney General Lori Swanson, and now a group of Republican state senators, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported.

The Details
Dayton said yesterday he intends to expand his list of essential state services, the Star Tribune reported—beyond those few areas protected under his shutdown plan, as summarized at Politics in Minnesota. 

Local Showdown
The state budget debate played out in miniature at a meeting of the Twin Cities North Chamber of Commerce at the in Fridley last Friday. Two north-metro state representatives—Melissa Hortman (DFL-47B) of Brooklyn Park and Branden Peterson (R-49B) of Andover—carried their respective parties' arguments, reported the Shoreview Press.

Layoff Notices
Among the state workers receiving notices that they would be laid off in case of a shutdown were three full-time employees at the National Sports Center in Blaine, reported ABC Newspapers.

Anoka County and Fridley
County and city officials are eyeing the state-government shutdown scenarios warily. See stories at the StarTribune, the St. Paul Pioneer Press and .