Legislators talk policy over coffee on Owatonna

OWATONNA — Although Gov. Tim Pawlenty highlighted millions in budget cuts Friday, legislators are anticipating the budget to be ready after the February forecast.

And after consulting with numerous state economists, state Sen. Dick Day, R-Owatonna, said the forecast is not sounding good because it may wind up increasing the state budget deficit by another $2 billion.

“All of us are pretty nervous how we’re going to handle this,” Day said.

Day, along with state Rep.-elect Kory Kath, DFL-Owatonna, met with business leaders Friday at Fireside Coffee Beans in Owatonna to hear their concerns about the economy and what to expect out of the upcoming legislative session.

Kath said the upcoming session will be like someone going back into a burning building and trying to retrieve anything they can. He doesn’t believe a 10 percent cut across the board is the way to go in solving the budget crisis.

Instead he proposed to look at how tax dollars are spent and cut any programs that are not working.

“You can’t tax your way out of this,” Kath said.

Day said everything will be on the table to cut except K-12 education, public safety and veteran’s issues. He said there was no way they’d be able to solve the budget deficit without cutting spending.

“The other way is raising taxes,” he said, something he opposes.

Other issues that came up included whether they supported an amendment guaranteeing access to health care, along with education funding.

Kath supports the amendment and said it would be one of the ways that would help relieve families during tough economic times. Day admitted he still hasn’t figured out the health-care system, but opposes a Canadian-style system of national health care.

“We have to be careful of what we do because we have a good system...,” he said.

Brad Meier, president of the Owatonna Area Chamber of Commerce and Tourism, said he thought the forum was good and a way to have legislators discuss the issues pertinent to the business community.

“I think we accomplished that today,” he said.

The chamber plans to send a group of business leaders up to the capitol during the legislative session to lobby about issues that are important to them. Meier said the next sit down with legislators will depend on what’s happening.

“We try to stay in touch as much as we can, whether it’s via phone or in person...,” he said.

Jeff Cagle can be reached at 444-2378.

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