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Three weeks after Minnesota's state government shutdown, I am hopeful that some semblance of normalcy has returned to those lives negatively impacted by this ordeal. While the political blame game may continue, I am focused on learning from this shutdown in order to prevent this from happening in the future.

There are several ideas for legislation that have been discussed following the shutdown. One such proposal would use the annual state February revenue estimates to determine the size of the State's checkbook. That would avoid the traditional argument about how much Minnesota can responsibly spend and would instead shift the legislative focus on how to most effectively use the money we have available.[[In-content Ad]]Another idea worth exploring is implementing "lights on" legislation that would keep government funded at a percentage of the previous biennium's budget until a formal agreement can be reached. This way, legislators and the Governor are still up against the constitutional deadline for a new budget July 1st, however the lives of thousands of Minnesota citizens will not be needlessly harmed or disrupted in the absence of a formal budget deal.

Now is the time to start having these conversations. We cannot continue to delay this debate. Far too many Minnesotans were affected last month and I refuse to subject more people to a similar scenario in two years. We ought to be able to learn from this shutdown and implement new innovations that will move Minnesota forward. With a couple of simple common sense measures we can assure the better government that the people of Minnesota deserve.

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