Compromise: An agreement or settlement of a dispute that is reached by each side making concessions.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and legislative leaders must consider compromise as they attempt to reach a deal on the budget soon. Legislators have a little more than two weeks to wrap up the session.
At the least, it seems they are putting in some over time to get the job done. Pawlenty and leading lawmakers met behind closed doors Saturday and then Sunday on the budget. They broke for the night at about 11:30 p.m. Sunday.
The weekend work, however, yielded no results. They apparently are closer to resolving the state’s $935 million projected budget deficit, but there is no deal, yet. At issue is where to get the money to plug the budget hole. Pawlenty wants to take $125 million from a health care fund to balance the budget, but DFL leaders are opposed to using that source.
Other roadblocks to a budget deal include which state programs get budget cuts, and how to keep property tax increases under control.
Without agreement, Pawlenty has authority to cut spending and tap into reserves without the consent of lawmakers. Some Minnesotans probably wouldn’t care for the cuts Pawlenty may make, and Minnesotans surely don’t want to end up paying for a special session to handle a budget deficit.
House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher, DFL-Minneapolis, says both sides are beginning to posture, knowing that they still have time to reach a deal.
We understand that politics are played at all levels of government, and that lawmakers and the governor may be working a strategy that they believe will lead to agreement.
However, we again urge them to get down to the business of resolving this huge budget deficit and the only reasonable way to do that is through compromise.