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April 17, 2008

Our View: Budget fix needn't be a brawl

There appears to be a sense of fair play emerging at the Capitol in the game of negotiations to come up with a solution to solve Minnesota’s $935 million budget deficit.

Democrats emerged from a meeting with Gov. Tim Pawlenty Wednesday with what appeared to be areas of common ground. The governor has said he will veto any more tax increases, and the Democrats agreed not to propose any taxes increases other than those already in their budget balancing bill. Those amount to “closing corporate tax loopholes,” including one on offshore businesses. That’s something the governor has agreed to at least in principle from time to time.

One sticking point seems to be the use of the $250 million surplus in Minnesota’s Health Care Access Fund. The Democrats want to leave the money in the fund for its intended use in covering more of the state’s residents without insurance.

Pawlenty has been eyeing the fund as an easy way to plug at least part of the budget hole. While Democrats seemed to think they had agreement from the governor the fund wouldn’t be raided, the governor’s office said the governors understand the Democrats’ point but was not taking use of the fund off the bargaining table.

Still, both parties are moving in the right direction. And that’s the direction of compromise. The parties even flipped a coin to see who would make the first offer. That’s also a sign that the bargaining process may be a little more open than in the past.

In past sessions, both Democrats and Republicans have accused the other of not negotiating in “good faith.” Both have probably been at fault for that over the past couple of years. But the current “flipping of the coin” suggests that there might be a little more monitoring of offers and counteroffers so the public can see who is compromising and who isn’t.

More than ever, Minnesotans need their government to come together with best ideas from both parties to forge solutions that move the state forward.

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