Pawlenty did not even offer any new initiatives for the host city — leaving St. Cloud residents to wonder what all the fuss was about.
Wayne Fleishhacker, organizer for the East Central Minnesota Area Labor Council, attended the address at the St. Cloud Civic Center and called the speech "a real disappointment."
"We\'re in trouble out here," Fleishhacker said. "Our state lost 23,000 jobs in the last six months. Our economy is underperforming the national economy for the first time in decades. In St. Cloud, Brainerd, Little Falls, you name it — more people are unemployed, more people lack health insurance and more people are really scared about their futures than ever.
"And the governor, who could jump-start the economy with a solid transportation bill and a good bonding bill, wants to grow jobs with his new SEED program," Fleishhacker concluded. "It\'s a joke."
SEED, the Strategic Entrepreneurial Economic Development initiative, would provide $70 million in taxpayer funding to businesses.
"What was most interesting in today\'s state of the state is not what Governor Pawlenty said, but rather what he didn\'t say," said Denise Cardinal, executive director of Alliance for a Better Minnesota. "He failed to provide a larger vision for our state\'s economic stability and instead bragged about governing by veto."
"Governor Pawlenty\'s veto pen is a job killer. Chronic disinvestment has created an economy that doesn\'t work," said Eliot Seide, executive director of AFSCME Council 5, a union of 43,000 workers in Minnesota.
"Tax equity can raise the revenue to revive our economy. Let\'s get the wealthiest Minnesotans, who earn over $400,000, to pay their fair share of taxes. Let\'s close tax loopholes for corporations that ship our jobs overseas. Then let\'s invest that revenue in transportation, education and healthcare – the things that create jobs and sustain our quality of life."
The governor failed to take leadership in health care reform, said Carol Nieters, contract organizer of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 284 which represents school support employees in central Minnesota.
"The high cost of health care is having a direct impact on my members – who work in schools," she said. "They have watched the cost of health care go up 25 to 37 percent in the last few years. That means 85 dollars less per month in income at a time when everything costs more. That\'s a real problem for our families – and for our economy."
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Pawlenty did not even offer any new initiatives for the host city — leaving St. Cloud residents to wonder what all the fuss was about.
Wayne Fleishhacker, organizer for the East Central Minnesota Area Labor Council, attended the address at the St. Cloud Civic Center and called the speech "a real disappointment."
"We\’re in trouble out here," Fleishhacker said. "Our state lost 23,000 jobs in the last six months. Our economy is underperforming the national economy for the first time in decades. In St. Cloud, Brainerd, Little Falls, you name it — more people are unemployed, more people lack health insurance and more people are really scared about their futures than ever.
"And the governor, who could jump-start the economy with a solid transportation bill and a good bonding bill, wants to grow jobs with his new SEED program," Fleishhacker concluded. "It\’s a joke."
SEED, the Strategic Entrepreneurial Economic Development initiative, would provide $70 million in taxpayer funding to businesses.
"What was most interesting in today\’s state of the state is not what Governor Pawlenty said, but rather what he didn\’t say," said Denise Cardinal, executive director of Alliance for a Better Minnesota. "He failed to provide a larger vision for our state\’s economic stability and instead bragged about governing by veto."
"Governor Pawlenty\’s veto pen is a job killer. Chronic disinvestment has created an economy that doesn\’t work," said Eliot Seide, executive director of AFSCME Council 5, a union of 43,000 workers in Minnesota.
"Tax equity can raise the revenue to revive our economy. Let\’s get the wealthiest Minnesotans, who earn over $400,000, to pay their fair share of taxes. Let\’s close tax loopholes for corporations that ship our jobs overseas. Then let\’s invest that revenue in transportation, education and healthcare – the things that create jobs and sustain our quality of life."
The governor failed to take leadership in health care reform, said Carol Nieters, contract organizer of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 284 which represents school support employees in central Minnesota.
"The high cost of health care is having a direct impact on my members – who work in schools," she said. "They have watched the cost of health care go up 25 to 37 percent in the last few years. That means 85 dollars less per month in income at a time when everything costs more. That\’s a real problem for our families – and for our economy."