Minnesota shutdown cost $1.8 million in overtime

The rate of overtime collected by Minnesota state employees nearly doubled during July's 20-day government shutdown compared with when it's business as usual.

About $1.8 million was paid in overtime as the 43 state agencies that continued operating during the shutdown were forced to reduce staffing and prioritize workloads.

Read more in the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

Officials: Minnesota government shutdown cost nearly $60 million

Minnesota budget officials said today that a 20-day government shutdown in July cost the state nearly $60 million but saved it about $65 million in salaries that weren't paid to state employees.

In a report released today, the Minnesota Management and Budget department said the state lost almost $50 million in revenue and spent about $7 million preparing for the shutdown and $3 million in recovery costs. Those cost estimates could rise, it said.

Read more in the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

Minnesota job creation: Where it comes from, how it happens

Gov. Mark Dayton kicks off what he's calling his "statewide jobs tour" today with a visit to Fergus Falls.

Polls show voters place jobs and the economy at the top of their list of concerns. That may be one reason why even as agency budgets were being cut throughout state government, this year's state budget nearly doubled the size of a relatively small and little-known program called the Minnesota Investment Fund.

Listen to or read story at Minnesota Public Radio.

Legislators propose change in law to prevent shutdowns

A group of state legislators proposed legislation Thursday that they said would prevent Minnesota’s government from coming to a screeching halt in the event of another political stalemate.

“This cannot be allowed to happen again,” Sen. Ted Lillie, R-Lake Elmo, said of the state government shutdown, which lasted 20 days.

Read more in the Pierce County Herald.

Road contractors irked by ban on shutdown claims

Highway contractors are considering their legal options, after discovering that the Minnesota Legislature has barred any shutdown-related damage claims or lawsuit settlements.

"Contractors had to prepare the sites for shutdown, so there's a lot unanticipated, unbudgeted costs that the contractors were responsible for," Dave Semerad, the chief executive of the Association of General Contractors of Minnesota told KARE Friday.

Read more at Kare 11.

Special master says her job is done, steps down

While state employees are returning to work after a 20-day layoff, the judge who heard arguments for funding programs during the shutdown said her job is done.

Former State Supreme Court Chief Justice Kathleen Blatz listened to pleas from social service agencies, bars and restaurants, car dealers and many others seeking to have their work be deemed as essential core government service.

Listen to the story at Minnesota Public Radio.

Editorial: Choose wise route to 'never again'

Practice isn't making perfect in Minnesota state government. For 21 years, voters have elected a mix of DFLers, Republicans and Independence Party candidates to positions of power.

Read more in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

MnDOT restarts in stages following government shutdown

The Minnesota Department of Transportation began restarting its operations Thursday following a government shutdown of nearly three weeks.

MnDOT Commissioner Tom Sorel says some services will be up and running fairly quickly, including MnPASS, traffic cameras and freeway incident response trucks. But, others will take longer to bring back on line.

Read more in the Rochester Post-Bulletin.

State Government Shutdown: Crunch time for Horace May construction

Horace May Elementary School has been a question mark for Bemidji School District officials in recent weeks.

The school was scheduled to have a new parking lot and an access road constructed this summer, but the state government shutdown put Minnesota Department of Transportation workers on “lay-off” status for several weeks.

Read more in The Bemidji Pioneer.

Minnesota's state workers begin task of re-starting government 'machinery'

After three long weeks, Minnesota's state government will begin lumbering to its feet today.

Beginning at 6 a.m., more than 22,000 state employees were authorized to return to the shuttered buildings that they left reluctantly on June 30.

Read more in MinnPost.

Tough road: Gearin cool to bid to restart highway projects

Dave Semerad was clearly frustrated Wednesday morning after the state-shutdown-related court hearing.

The chief executive officer of the Associated General Contractors of Minnesota stood in the emptying courtroom of Ramsey County District Court Chief Judge Kathleen Gearin and made a vow.

“We’re not going to sit on the sidelines for this,” Semerad said. “People need to be held accountable, and we will be doing that.”

Read more in Finance & Commerce.

Judge rejects request to resume road projects

A petition from two key Minnesota GOP lawmakers today to order work to resume on many of the state's shuttered road projects was rejected by the judge appointed to rule on essential government services.

Learn more at MPR News.

Dayton opposes restarting roadwork

Gov. Mark Dayton is opposing efforts to restart some 100 state road construction projects during the state government shutdown.

Read more in Finance & Commerce.

Businesses feel immediate bite

It's one thing to lose jobs because of the economy. But Vince Montgomery is perplexed that he might have to furlough employees because of politics . . . .

Mark Olson knows the pressure all too well. Olsen is a project manager at Edward Kraemer & Sons Inc., a general contractor on the interchange project at Hwy. 169 and Interstate 494 in the south metro.

Read more in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Judge's ruling not favorable to construction industry

In yesterday's ruling about the state shutdown, Judge Kathleen Gearin rejected the argument by the Minnesota Association of General Contractors that construction contracts must continue and be allowed to spend unappropriated funds. She wrote that if the industry loses money and the state ends up paying more for projects, and if construction workers get laid off and people are inconvenienced, then those are the consequences of the disagreement about the state budget.

Gearin also ruled that road construction projects cannot continue unless the money for them has been appropriated. She wrote that a contract that keeps a bridge from collapsing is a critical core function although replacing a bridge is not.

Read more in MinnPost.

As shutdown looms, Minnesota contractors file brief on 'critical' road projects

Several construction industry associations hope to convince a Ramsey County District Court judge that funding for state construction projects should continue if state government shuts down.

A brief filed this week in Ramsey County District Court argues that certain construction projects are critical "core government functions" worthy of continued funding. . . . The brief was filed on behalf of the Associated General Contractors of Minnesota and other groups.

Read more in Finance & Commerce.