Minnesota’s legislative leaders said while the “State of the State” address had few details on how to move the state out of deficit and into prosperity, they expect to work cooperatively with the governor to accomplish that goal.

The address was delivered last Thursday in the chamber of the House of Representatives in front of members of the House and Senate.

Austin city officials were also in St. Paul Thursday attending a League of Minnesota Cities meeting designed to rally support for leaving Local Government Aid to cities untouched by the governor.

Ironically, the LMC reminded its members they have a survey to complete on their fiscal conditions.

“We’re going to get beat up by more reductions in Local Government Aid and Mower County will lose aid too as they try to erase the deficit and balance the budget,” said Austin Mayor Tom Stiehm, who attended the LMC meeting and listened to the governor’s address on a big screen television with Janet Anderson, Austin City Council Member At Large, Austin First Ward Council Member Brian McAlister and city administrator Jim Hurm.

Already reeling from an unallotment reduction at the end of 2008, Austin faces more financial trouble if (When?) its 2009 LGA allotment is reduced.

Stiehm said the Mower County Commissioners are “pretty well-known up here,” speaking of the LMC and Minnesota Legislature, “after they gave themselves and the other elected officials those raises. In these tough economic times, that wasn’t a smart thing to do.”

“It’s going to be tough for local government,” he said.

The Austin mayor and other city officials were extremely interested in the governor’s address and what legislators had to say afterwards, beginning with legislative leaders.

“There are many things in the governor’s speech we’ll be taking seriously, but they may fall short in telling us how he plans to fix the huge problems we face,” said Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller. “In addition, the governor proposed significant new spending but gave no way to pay for it.”

“We all need to be honest with the public about the size and scope of the challenge our state faces,” said Speaker of the House Margaret Anderson Kelliher.

“The focus needs to be on short and long-term economic recovery, and we have to keep our options open. Our top priorities continue to be economic recovery and job creation.”

Several of the governor’s initiatives are already being looked at by the Legislature, including sharing services for schools and other reform ideas.

“The governor’s been putting forward proposals that nibble at the edge of this problem, but now he’s actually proposing spending that will make this deficit worse,” said House Majority Leader Tony Sertich. “The people of Minnesota are expecting us to tackle this thing head on and the one thing we know for sure is that creating and retaining jobs will get our economy back on track. The choice is clear: The governor can continue to lead our state to 36th place in job growth or he can join us to work together to invest in our workforce to move us into prosperity.”

“We need jobs, not slogans,” said Senate Assistant Majority Leader Tarryl Clark. “The House and Senate will continue to focus on building our economy by helping to create and retain jobs while streamlining government. We look forward to seeing the governor’s budget later this month and getting public input so we can get a more complete view of how his vision for the state will affect people.”

The reference to slogans reminded all of the governor’s “kitchen table” illustration how the Legislature must make its decision with the best interests of the state’s financially-strapped taxpayers at heart.

Local reaction

Closer to home, area legislators weighed in on the governor’s address.

One local legislator said legislative leaders have to lead the way in dealing with the challenges described by Pawlenty.

“The governor’s State of the State was an opportunity for leadership to step forward and set our priorities as we work to balance Minnesota’s budget,” said State Senator Dan Sparks (DFL – District 27).

“Without a doubt, the governor’s proposals will be closely examined by the Senate, and we look forward to learn more as to how he plans to fund his projects when he presents his budget proposal in the coming weeks,” Sparks said.

According to the Austin DFLer, “Creating and retaining jobs to help our economy recover is our top priority this session.”

“The key is to focus not only on rapid recovery, but long-term success,” Sparks said.

“As we move forward, it is my hope that we can put partisan politics aside, and maintain cooperative and collaborative relationships in order to create long-term solutions to the budget deficit.”

“The governor’s State of the State address laid the groundwork for what will be his budget proposal which will be out the end of January,” observed State Rep. Jeanne Poppe (DFL-District 27B).

The Austin DFLer heard what the Austin LMC delegation heard: More reductions to come.

“The governor made it clear he intends to further cut aid to local units of government.”

After the speech, Poppe met with the Austin mayor, council members Anderson and McAlister and city administrator Hurm, visiting St. Paul to show support for LGA along with other LMC members.

“We discussed the gravity of the situation,” she said.

“Austin is a rural community which derives 54 percent of its city budget from Local Government Aid,” Poppe, an Austin resident, said. “Without it we won’t have the same quality of life, the same levels of service, the same opportunity for growth.”

“We are not a wealthy or young community: Nearly half of our students enrolled in the Austin school district receives free or reduced lunch and 18.1 percent of our population is over age 65 compared to 12.1 percent statewide.”

“City elected officials would have to more than triple the city property tax levy to make up the amount,” Poppe warned. “Depending on the level of cuts the governor proposes, we will each feel the pain or experience the result of a major cut to Local Government Aid.”

Poppe further made her case, saying there are other risks if more state cuts occur.

“Austin is also home to a Mayo Clinic connected hospital/medical clinic and a community and technical college, two other areas the Governor indicated would be at risk in his proposed budget,” she said. “Both of these received cuts in the last year.”

“The value of health care access is immeasurable; we are fortunate to have it when we need it,” she said. “In addition to keeping us healthy, it is a great provider of jobs within our region.”

And Poppe, who works as a counselor at Riverland Community College also said, “Higher education will keep our workforce skilled and our young people in our region.

“The demographic trends tell us we will have older workers who likely will need to adjust their skills to keep up with new industry demands,” warned the state representative.

“We have a college in our backyard which can provide training. But what if it has to close its doors because of lack of state investment?”

She also reminded, “We are fortunate that we also have industries and businesses in wind energy and bio-sciences. Our region is ahead of the curve on the up and coming economic strategies for jobs and entrepreneurial growth.”

How does Poppe plan to deal with the 2009 session’s expected firestorm of rhetoric over the state budget deficit?

“As the governor stated, these are challenging times for our state,” she said. “I will continue to provide truthful and accurate information and will listen to constituents’ concerns.”

State Rep. Randy Demmer (R – District 29A) said the Governor’s use of the “kitchen table” slogan was an attempt to help Minnesotans focus on the realities of the state budget deficit.

The Hayfield Republican liked what he heard the governor say about the need for job creation, particularly in helping small businesses grow with new jobs.

Demmer also liked the governor’s focus on the need for investment in education.

The Hayfield businessman took a pragmatic approach about cities and counties, but fears the governor will attempt to balance the state budget on the backs of local government.

“Local government has to step up and do their part, too, in this crisis,” he said.

But he said the state cannot depend on local government being able to shoulder a greater burden or the need.

“Personally, if there is no money from the state to provide a program or service, local government has to be able to decide whether or not they can provide that program or service. They need the flexibility to make that decision,” Demmer said.