7/07/2011 09:52:00 AM
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Minnesota shutdown costing millions
Already suffering from a recession and political gridlock that would make Washington blush, Minnesota is losing tens millions of dollars of revenue due to a government shutdown headed into its second week, the Associated Press reported.
Among the losses the state is incurring: $1.25 million daily in unsold lottery tickets, $1 million a week lost from unpaid state parks fees, $52 million a month in tax revenue not being collected because state auditors – like the rest of state government deemed nonessential – are out of work and up to $50,000 a week from closed tolled highway express lanes.
No talks between Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton and Republican legislative leaders are scheduled for Thursday, according to Minnesota Public Radio.
The crisis is blocking scores of state functions, including suspending a tax credit program that allowed a 25 percent tax credit for people who invested at least $10,000 in start-up companies. The Star Tribune of Minneapolis on Thursday wrote of entrepreneurs who fear financial assistance may instead go to companies in neighborhing states.
“We’ve got money waiting on the sidelines,” Scott Hughes, the president of a company that supplies technology for waste management groups, told the paper.
The developments come a day after Dayton and the state’s legislative GOP leaders held another fruitless meeting. Dayton proposed forgoing his demand for increased income taxes on either the richest 2 percent of taxpayers or those who earn $1 million annually if Republicans would agree to a $1-per-pack cigarette tax hike.
House Speaker Kurt Zellers calling it “a disappointing step backwards.”
The Star Tribune also reported vandals hit a series of closed and abandoned state parks over the July 4th holiday weekend, with 12 people arrested after damaging buildings at Afton State Park southeast of the Twin Cities.Read more:
Among the losses the state is incurring: $1.25 million daily in unsold lottery tickets, $1 million a week lost from unpaid state parks fees, $52 million a month in tax revenue not being collected because state auditors – like the rest of state government deemed nonessential – are out of work and up to $50,000 a week from closed tolled highway express lanes.
Add to that increased costs from delays at 100 road construction projects – which also involve private companies laying off employees scheduled to work on state jobs – that won’t be known until after the shutdown ends.
And the state has to fund unemployment and health insurance costs for its 23,000 laid-off employees, even though those workers are not being paid during the shutdown. The state is saving $23 million a week in salaries, the AP reported. It is unclear if the state workers will receive any back pay once the shutdown ends.No talks between Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton and Republican legislative leaders are scheduled for Thursday, according to Minnesota Public Radio.
The crisis is blocking scores of state functions, including suspending a tax credit program that allowed a 25 percent tax credit for people who invested at least $10,000 in start-up companies. The Star Tribune of Minneapolis on Thursday wrote of entrepreneurs who fear financial assistance may instead go to companies in neighborhing states.
“We’ve got money waiting on the sidelines,” Scott Hughes, the president of a company that supplies technology for waste management groups, told the paper.
The developments come a day after Dayton and the state’s legislative GOP leaders held another fruitless meeting. Dayton proposed forgoing his demand for increased income taxes on either the richest 2 percent of taxpayers or those who earn $1 million annually if Republicans would agree to a $1-per-pack cigarette tax hike.
House Speaker Kurt Zellers calling it “a disappointing step backwards.”
The Star Tribune also reported vandals hit a series of closed and abandoned state parks over the July 4th holiday weekend, with 12 people arrested after damaging buildings at Afton State Park southeast of the Twin Cities.Read more:
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