Pawlenty said he will implement a rarely used measure – “unallotment” – to cut nearly $2.68 billion and address a projected state budget shortfall in the 2010-2011 biennium.
The cuts include:
• $1.77 billion in K-12 education payment deferrals and adjustments;
• $236 million in cuts to human services programs;
• $200 million in cuts to local government aid to cities and townships;
• $100 million in cuts to higher education; and
• $33 million in reductions to most state agency operating budgets
"The budget cuts (unallotments) that Gov. Pawlenty announced today will take jobs away from thousands of working Minnesotans," said Minnesota AFL-CIO Secretary Treasurer Steve Hunter. "This is a huge setback to our economy which is starting to show a few signs of recovery.”
“We expect 3,400 public sector jobs will be lost,” said Eliot Seide, executive director of AFSCME Council 5, the union representing many state, county and municipal workers. “It\'s too soon to know how many AFSCME members will be laid off.”
Jim Monroe, executive director of MAPE, the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees, said “Gov. Pawlenty’s unallotment priorities speak volumes to the fact he has turned his back on Minnesotans while turning his attention to the national spotlight.
“While he cuts local government aid to communities which will delay hiring police and firefighters, or lay them off, Gov. Pawlenty would rather threaten the safety of Minnesotans than lay off members of his full-time security detail who travel all over the country with him.”
These job losses will only compound the bleak employment outlook for many Minnesotans, union leaders said.
The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development reported that the state had lost more than 90,000 jobs in the 12 months between May 2008 and May 2009. Minnesota\'s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stood at 8.1 percent in April with more than 238,743 Minnesotans out of work.
The reductions would begin to take effect at the start of the next fiscal year on July 1; however, Pawlenty said many of the proposed unallotments are weighted toward the second year of the biennium, meaning lawmakers and the governor could work out an agreement next year to avoid some of the cuts.
DFL legislative leaders reacted swiftly to the governor\'s announcement. Senate Assistant Majority Leader Tarryl Clark, DFL-St. Cloud, said Pawlenty is abusing the governor\'s unallotment power, which she said is intended to fix only small, unanticipated budget deficits.
"He\'s not a tsar; he\'s not an emperor; he\'s not a Grand Poo-Bah. He\'s a governor," Clark said, noting that the power of unallotment has been used only six times in the state\'s history — three times by Pawlenty — and that the new unallotments would be larger than all the previous ones combined.
This article includes information from Session Daily, an online publication of the Minnesota House, and statements from unions.
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Pawlenty said he will implement a rarely used measure – “unallotment” – to cut nearly $2.68 billion and address a projected state budget shortfall in the 2010-2011 biennium.
The cuts include:
• $1.77 billion in K-12 education payment deferrals and adjustments;
• $236 million in cuts to human services programs;
• $200 million in cuts to local government aid to cities and townships;
• $100 million in cuts to higher education; and
• $33 million in reductions to most state agency operating budgets
"The budget cuts (unallotments) that Gov. Pawlenty announced today will take jobs away from thousands of working Minnesotans," said Minnesota AFL-CIO Secretary Treasurer Steve Hunter. "This is a huge setback to our economy which is starting to show a few signs of recovery.”
“We expect 3,400 public sector jobs will be lost,” said Eliot Seide, executive director of AFSCME Council 5, the union representing many state, county and municipal workers. “It\’s too soon to know how many AFSCME members will be laid off.”
Jim Monroe, executive director of MAPE, the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees, said “Gov. Pawlenty’s unallotment priorities speak volumes to the fact he has turned his back on Minnesotans while turning his attention to the national spotlight.
“While he cuts local government aid to communities which will delay hiring police and firefighters, or lay them off, Gov. Pawlenty would rather threaten the safety of Minnesotans than lay off members of his full-time security detail who travel all over the country with him.”
These job losses will only compound the bleak employment outlook for many Minnesotans, union leaders said.
The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development reported that the state had lost more than 90,000 jobs in the 12 months between May 2008 and May 2009. Minnesota\’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stood at 8.1 percent in April with more than 238,743 Minnesotans out of work.
The reductions would begin to take effect at the start of the next fiscal year on July 1; however, Pawlenty said many of the proposed unallotments are weighted toward the second year of the biennium, meaning lawmakers and the governor could work out an agreement next year to avoid some of the cuts.
DFL legislative leaders reacted swiftly to the governor\’s announcement. Senate Assistant Majority Leader Tarryl Clark, DFL-St. Cloud, said Pawlenty is abusing the governor\’s unallotment power, which she said is intended to fix only small, unanticipated budget deficits.
"He\’s not a tsar; he\’s not an emperor; he\’s not a Grand Poo-Bah. He\’s a governor," Clark said, noting that the power of unallotment has been used only six times in the state\’s history — three times by Pawlenty — and that the new unallotments would be larger than all the previous ones combined.
This article includes information from Session Daily, an online publication of the Minnesota House, and statements from unions.