MnSCU may send 6,000 layoff notices on Friday

Published 2:52 pm Wednesday, June 8, 2011

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system will send layoff notices to 6,000 employees Friday if it can’t work out a deal to get access to its money in a state government shutdown.

The MnSCU Board of Trustees held an emergency meeting Wednesday to discuss the implications of a shutdown.

Chief Financial Officer Laura King says the system has enough money in state accounts to keep operating but might not be able to access it in a shutdown. She says she’s confident the system will reach a deal with the state budget department to keep processing MnSCU’s money during a shutdown.

But if the deal isn’t reached by Friday, the layoff notices will go out. If there’s no deal at all, she says, the system could shut down July 1.