Disappointed

Dear State of Minnesota Legislature,

I understand that you have been elected to fight for what you believe is best for our state. I commend you on being a public servant. I certainly don't want your job. However, I'm severely disappointed in you right now.

At 12:01 AM this morning (July 1st) the State of Minnesota and a majority of its operations and services shut down, basically anything that hasn't been deemed "necessary" has been stopped. The Republican majority leaders and the Democratic Governor could not possibly reach a budget agreement. Nor would the Governor accept anything less than a full budget plan. Resulting in hundreds or thousands of state employees being laid off. On top of that 60,000 reservations for campers at state parks were cancelled. DMVs, the zoo and the lottery have been closed. All of those things bring in quite a bit of revenue for the state. That seems extremely counter-productive to me, when the legislature is arguing over the current deficit.

Although you cannot purchase a fishing license now that the government is shut down, the DNR will be out enforcing regulations regarding fishing licenses. That seems very unnecessary to me. My friends have argued that it's a revenue maker. Great. How about we come to a budget agreement, so we didn't have to lay people off, and shut a bunch of things down. Road construction is at a stand-still. Wayside rest stops are closed. And some poor lady on the radio this morning said she lost her medical insurance because she's disabled. Deaf people are not receiving any state services, low-income families are not receiving day care funding, and anyone with medical assistance will not be seen by a doctor unless it's an emergency. Sounds pretty silly to me that the DNR is a necessity in this situation. Sounds even sillier that such a thing can happen. Where is the accountability for lawmakers to meet the deadlines. I don't know how to find this out, but I'm very curious as to how this is affecting the legislative peoples who couldn't come to an agreement. I know they still have jobs. Are they still being paid? Is the Governor allowed to remain at his state-paid residence, with all of his house-staff (maids, etc)? This whole thing makes me SO ANGRY. I kinda just want to move.