Daily Herald editorial

Crunch time is here for Minnesota’s elected leaders. Lawmakers have four weeks to finalize a state budget that will account for a $5 billion shortfall between what the state takes in and what it is expected to spend over the next two years. After staring at the problem for months, no viable answer to the riddle is in sight, meaning that as usual there will be a last-minute frenzy to get the work done.

The Republican-dominated House and Senate have put forth a variety of spending and tax proposals, all of which could best be characterized as political grandstanding because there was, from the moment they were conceived, virtually no chance that Gov. Mark Dayton, a Democrat, would sign them into law.

We particularly hope that the new plans which will emerge over the next month will not rely on the Legislature’s usual trick (one that both parties have played many times) of cutting state-level expenses by simply dumping responsibility on cities, counties and school districts without likewise giving them authority to adjust the gigantic layer of state-required services that they provide. A recent bill that would force county jails to house (and pay for the cost of) state prisoners during the last part of their sentence is a typical example.

Many of those who hold office in St. Paul today were elected because they promised to reform — or the least control – government spending. To simply shift spending is not truly accomplishing that job anymore than moving money from one pocket to another constitutes “saving.” Lawmakers know better. We must hope that they also perform better during the next — and final — four weeks of the legislation session.