Judge Rules What's Essential in Minnesota Government Shutdown

State aid to cities and school districts must continue during a shutdown of Minnesota state government, according to a ruling Wednesday morning by Ramsey County District Court Judge Kathleen Gearin.

School Impacts

Today's ruling states that the Minnesota constitution requires a “general and uniform system of public schools” and that this provision makes funding education a critical core function of government. Consequently, it appears that education aid payments will continue to flow to school districts—those payments account for almost 80% of the Minnetonka School District's annual budget. 

At the same time, it appears that the ruling will accept most of Governor Mark Dayton's petition, which according to Scott Croonquist, executive director of the Association of Metropolitan School Districts, "basically shuts down" the Minnesota Department of Education.  

City Impacts

Inver Grove Heights receives little, if any, local government aid payments from the state each year. But the city could feel the pain of a government shutdown in other ways, City Administrator Joe Lynch said last week.

The biggest impact a state shutdown could have on the city, Lynch said, has to do with the Minnesota Department of Revenue. Dakota County relies on the state to pay out money collected from taxes, which it then funnels to each city within the county. Those payments normally come three times a year—in July, October and December, Lynch said.  The city already received its July tax revenue payment, but if the Department of Revenue ceases to operate, the city may not receive its October payment on time, Lynch said. The shutdown could affect Inver Grove residents in other ways, as well. For more,

Other Impacts

Basic care for Minnesotans in prison, nursing and veterans homes, and state hospitals, will also continue to receive state funding, Gearin said in the ruling.  Gearin also appointed former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Kathleen Blatz as special master to hear petitions for state funding or services and make recommendations to the court.

Right now, a stalemate over Minnesota's looming $5 billion deficit means the state is headed towards . Because the regular legislative session ended without a budget deal, Dayton and Republican leaders now have until July 1 to reach a compromise.