The Minnesota Association of Professional Employees (MAPE) voted on Friday to oppose a ballot measure that, if approved by the voters 2012, would place a ban on same-sex marriage in the Minnesota Constitution. MAPE’s board of directors voted unanimously on the issue.

“We were supportive of domestic partner benefits in 2001 because of our union’s belief in fairness and equality for all. We remain committed to making sure that all of our members, their families or any Minnesotan is not subjected to discrimination,” Jim Monroe, executive director of MAPE, said in statement. MAPE has approximately 13,000 members.

In 2001, the public employee union backed Gov. Jesse Ventura’s efforts to have domestic partner benefits included in contract negotiations for state workers. Legislative Republicans killed the domestic partner agreement, however.

Monroe added, “The Republican-led legislature should focus on creating jobs and turning the state’s economy around, rather than championing discrimination against their fellow Minnesotans.”

MAPE joins several other labor groups in opposing the amendment. The AFL-CIO, AFSCME Council 5 and the SEIU have also announced opposition to the amendment.

Supporters of 22,000 laid-off public employees rallied at the Minnesota State Capitol in support of a tax hike on the rich Wednesday evening.

Their protest was nicknamed “Downeyville” for Edina Republican Rep. Keith Downey, who introduced legislation that unions said would eliminate 5,000 state jobs and threaten collective bargaining rights for public employees.

The unions AFSCME and MAPE argued in favor of Gov. Mark Dayton’s proposal to increase income taxes on the state’s wealthiest citizens to end the budget standoff that shut down the state.

Antonio Rojas, age 8, with his French bulldog, Yogi. Photo: Michael Kuchta, AFSCME.

Jim Monroe, executive director of MAPE, told the crowd that Republican legislators had turned their backs on the middle class.

“We stand at a point in this state’s history of either standing strong for the common good or allowing extreme special interests with a radical social agenda to destroy our middle class as we know it,” Monroe said. “The chief business of all elected officials should be the common good and welfare of all members of society—not just a selected few.”

Downey (R-Edina) told Fox 9 that Gov. Dayton should sign the “lights on” bill proposed by legislative Republicans so public employees can get back to work: “Everyone appreciates the frustration people are feeling, we do too, we didn’t get our job done with the governor.” But in an interview with Edina Patch last week, Downey said the shutdown offers a chance to see how state government functions with only one-third of the typical workforce.

“Nobody wants a shutdown, but it’s an interesting opportunity to see what impact not having these nonessential employees has,” [Downey] said. “It will allow us a chance to assess, one-by-one, what can actually be done without all of those people.”

Minnesota AFL-CIO President Shar Knutson had a message for Republican legislators: “Do your jobs. You’re supposed to represent all Minnesotans, not just the two percent of the richest.”

Laid-off public employees plan to gather at the State Capitol Wednesday evening to put in some hard work building a town from the ground up. They’re naming the fantasy city Downeyville in honor of Edina Republican Rep. Keith Downey, who authored legislation that would eliminate the jobs of 5,000 state workers and threaten collective bargaining rights for public employees.

Jennifer Munt, public affairs director for AFSCME Council 5, said the event will include street signs for places like Beard Boulevard, named for Shakopee Republican Rep. Mike Beard, who has proposed an 85 percent cut to Metro Transit.

“We’re trying to make sure people understand what’s at stake with an all-cuts budget,” Munt told the Minnesota Independent. “The shutdown gives people a taste of what that would be like, but the Republican budget proposals as they stand today are far worse than the shutdown for the average person in Minnesota.”

Aside from the playful aspects of the event, it represents a push by the public employee unions MAPE and AFSCME to put pressure on Republican moderates who might help shift their caucuses towards compromise with Gov. Mark Dayton to end the state government shutdown. Republicans have so far shown little willingness to change their positions.

“Part of our rally is to differentiate the legislators who refuse to compromise from the more reasonable voices,” Munt said. “We’re going to nail the people who refuse to compromise and [who] demand cuts that are going to hurt our state.”

The unions have daily plans for actions throughout July, from as small as handing out “Tax the Rich” cards to the public to organizing in-district meetings between Republican legislators and union members.

The unions expect a slightly higher turnout than the vigil on the eve of the shutdown.

The event starts at 4:30 p.m. at the State Capitol.

Nell Nere sat on the steps of the Capitol Thursday night, hours before her state government shut down indefinitely.

Robert Benson of Hugo (left) and Nell Nere, an employee at the Department of Labor and Industry. Photo: Kathy Easthagen

Nere, a worker in the state’s Department of Labor and Industry and a member of the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees, began chatting with a student representative from Minnesota College Republicans about the numbers behind the budget dispute that has caused a historic shutdown.

“This is going to be a tragedy,” Nere said, scanning a growing crowd at the Capitol. “It’s going to be a huge hardship. Are we going to look like Minnesota, or are we going to look like Mississippi?”

With Gov. Mark Dayton unable to come to terms with Republican legislative leaders on a budget deal late Thursday night, the state government shut down and the fate of up to 23,000 state employees who have received layoff notices is highly uncertain.

A crowd of hundreds of state workers, including members of Minnesota’s two largest public employees’ unions — MAPE and AFSCME Council 5 — filled the steps of the Capitol Thursday night for a Shutdown Eve Vigil. Protesters held small signs — most calling for increased taxes on the state’s wealthiest 2 percent — as they dabbed sweat from their faces. Cries of “We want to work for Minnesota!” and “Tax the rich!” rang through the area. Participants ranged from those in wheelchairs to infants to disgruntled, but motivated state workers.

Even a few legislators made their way to a window at the front of the Capitol, holding candles and watching the protest.

“The Republican legislature has spent the last six months bashing and demonizing public employees,” AFSCME Council 5 director Eliot Seide shouted into a microphone at the top of the steps to a chorus of boos.

AFSCME Council 5 Executive Director Eliot Seide. Photo: Kathy Easthagen

Throughout the night, religious leaders and public employees made their way to the microphone, using rhetoric of “brothers and sisters” to address the crowd. The Twin Cities Labor Chorus sang “This land is your land,” among other songs. Speakers discussed the importance of the public sector, bashing the GOP-controlled legislature for what they perceived as disdain towards state employees. They spoke in support of Dayton, calling for the DFL governor to stay strong through the conversations.

“Tonight, our hearts and souls go out to all of you because it’s the public sector that makes this state work,” said Marcia Zimmerman, a rabbi at Minneapolis’ Temple Israel.

But ralliers with highly negative attitudes flooded the Capitol entrance.

Rebecca Carpentier works for HIRED, an agency which helps low-income adults, dislocated workers, welfare-to-work individuals, refugees and youth find jobs and job training.

“We’re putting people to work only to find out they can’t work,” said Carpentier. “That’s bullshit … Everyone wants the workforce working. I work at an agency to do that. But they’re cutting our fingers and toes off.”

Nearby, B.J. Wuollet engaged members of the College Republicans — seemingly the only conservative representation on the steps of the Capitol — in an argument about the role of government.

“My sister will not be able to feed her children or take them to the doctor,” said Wuollet, who was frequently heard telling the small group of Republicans they were “bumming Jesus out.”

Ryan Lyk, chairman of Minnesota College Republicans, fired back, calling Dayton’s unwillingness to sign a budget bill a “bad move.”

The State Capitol, just prior to shutdown. Photo: Kathy Easthagen

“At the very least, they need to figure out their differences,” Lyk said. “We need to keep government going to some extent.”

Dayton addressed the press and many Republican legislators as protestors continued to shout and sing, the St. Paul skyline behind them.

“I deeply regret that the last week of intense negotiations between the Republican legislative leaders and Senator Bakk, Representative Thissen, and myself have failed to bridge the divide between us,” Dayton said.

After Dayton and Republicans put all their offers on the table, a $1.4 billion gap remained between the two proposals, the governor said. He added that he, Thissen and Bakk made two offers Thursday, which involved raising revenues by increases taxes only on Minnesotans who make more than $1 million per year. Dayton said the Department of Revenue reported that figure includes 0.3 percent of the state’s population.

Some notes and the biggest headlines regarding the state government shutdown that will begin Friday if Gov. Mark Dayton and Republican legislative leaders can’t reach a budget deal in time:

• A Ramsey County judge ruled Wednesday that the state’s core services must remain open if the shutdown occurs, the Star Tribune reported. In her ruling, Chief Judge Kathleen Gearin said she agreed with Dayton in that state functions, which serve Minnesotans in prison, nursing homes, veterans home and state hospitals, must continue to be funded. Gearin also ruled health care must be funded, and that computer system maintenance, internet security and other basic functions also must go on.

However, Gearin offered rulings on few specific services beyond the basics.

“The Court believes that the negative impact of a government shutdown on these programs does not justify a court in over-extending its authority. … the Court must construe any authority it has to order government spending to maintain critical core functions in a very narrow sense,” she wrote.

Dayton later released a statement, saying, “While I am still reviewing Chief Judge Gearin’s order, it appears that her order arrived at the same middle ground as my Administration, and essentially agreed with my list of critical services that must continue … Let me be clear: I would much prefer to find a fair and balanced budget solution, rather than a government shutdown. I am continuing to work toward a compromise needed to move forward.”

• Minnesota’s two largest employee unions Wednesday approved an agreement that will “protect all the rights of laid-off workers while saving taxpayers millions in layoff costs if state government shuts down Friday,” according to a Minnesota Association of Professional Employees press release.

“This agreement protects our health insurance and it ensures that we will be able to return to work with all our benefits intact,” Eliot Seide, director of AFSCME  Council 5 —  the other union — and chief negotiator of the deal, said in a statement.  “But, it also means laid-off state workers won’t get severance or vacation checks during the shutdown.  Once again, state employees are doing their part to fix the budget.”

MAPE is a union of 13,000 state workers and AFSCME Council 5 is a union of 43,000 public and non-profit workers throughout Minnesota, including 18,000 state employees.

According to its website, MAPE plans to hold a Shutdown Eve Vigil Pre-Vigil Cookout on Thursday at 9 p.m. on the steps of the State Capitol.

• The Immigration Law Center sent an email Wednesday, detailing which services of the organization will be most affected by the shutdown. The list includes:

• Green card applications (legal permanent residency) for newly arrived refugees and their children, predominantly from Burma, Laos and Somalia.
• Citizenship applications for refugees with 5 years of legal permanent residency.
• Citizenship applications for disabled refugees with 5 years of legal permanent residency.
• Pro Bono services and general operating support of our statewide immigration cases.
• U-visa applications for immigrant victims of serious crimes who work with police to stop crimes committed against vulnerable immigrants and their children.

• Minnesota Public Radio reported the Federal Emergency Management Agency has asked the state what will happen if the agency needs to a respond to an incident at one of the state’s two nuclear power plants if a shutdown cannot be avoided.

FEMA Region V Administrator Andrew Velasquez sent a letter to state Homeland Security and Emergency Management Director Kris Eide last week, asking if “staff and resources will be maintained sufficiently” to meet the state’s responsibilities in responding to an incident at the Prairie Island or Monticello nuclear plants.

Doug Neville, spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety, said Eide was reviewing Dayton’s list of core services to ensure nothing was overlooked, but expected him to respond to FEMA by Wednesday.

A representative from a union that represents 13,000 state employees said Gov. Mark Dayton’s letter to public employees in the wake of a possible government shutdown was a “class act” and “exemplary.”

“It was a very class act to send notice to all state employees,” Richard Kolodziejski, the legislative affairs director for the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees (MAPE) told the Minnesota Independent. “We think it’s exemplary he’s acknowledged state employees. We’ve been fighting. We certainly don’t think anyone should be out of work. We support his proposal.”

Dayton sent the letter Wednesday, which thanked state employees for their work, saying he considers “virtually all services provided by the state to be essential.”

“I know that I speak for my entire cabinet when I say that we greatly value you and all of our state’s dedicated employees,” Dayton wrote. “We deeply appreciate your hard work and the high-quality services you provide to millions of Minnesotans.  It is precisely those Minnesotans, those services, and your ability to deliver them, for which I am negotiating.”

On Wednesday, Dayton also submitted a list of services to Ramsey County District Court, which he said his office deemed “most critical.” The list includes services from corrections and human services to the Minnesota Zoological Gardens and the Pollution Control Agency. The governor’s office identifies these areas as “priority one and two” services.

“Only minimal levels of staff and operating expenses that are necessary to continue, secure, or support these operations are requested to continue in the event of a government shutdown,” the list states. “All others are recommended to close.”

The list of services the governor has deemed critical encompasses more than 13,200 full-time equivalent state employees, but Kolodziejski said there’s no way of knowing how many of those employees are a part of MAPE.

“Our key message, what we want the citizens of the state to understand is our people want to work,” Kolodziejski said. “We don’t represent people, we don’t advocate for people to be unemployed.”

Meanwhile, on Thursday, the Associated Press reported that Dayton and GOP lawmakers were still not close to reaching a deal on the state’s budget, with Dayton turning down a Republican proposal to drop $200 million in tax cuts to work towards the governor’s plan.

House Speaker Kurt Zellers called the proposal “the biggest compromise of the negotiations,” but Dayton said shifting the money from tax cuts to spending programs wouldn’t move the GOP above a $34 billion cap for the next two years of state funding, the AP said. The $200 million in income, property and business tax cuts would shift toward spending increases in education, public safety, Local Government Aid and flood relief projects, the lawmakers said.

Republican lawmakers also said Dayton should match their proposal by dropping his request for tax increases.

Dayton called  the offer a “non-proposal” and said it’s the most disappointed he’s been after months of budget talks. He said dropping his proposed tax increase would force him to back spending cuts he finds unconscionable.

Rep. Tom Hackbarth, R-Cedar, courted controversy last week after he emailed a member of the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees (MAPE) asserting that union members are communists and likening calls to raise revenues by taxing the top 2 percent of Minnesotans to the rise of Hitler in Germany and Fidel Castro in Cuba. The email prompted a sharp rebuke from MAPE, which asked Hackbarth to explain his comments.

MAPE member Robin Seifert sent an email to Hackbarth regarding the current budget impasse between Republicans and Gov. Mark Dayton that said, in part, “Please tax the richest 2% of Minnesotans. Ask them to pay their fair share.”

To that, Hackbarth replied:

I can’t believe what I’m hearing from folks? All, similar letters to yours.

Are you a Union member? If so, are they the communist [sic] giving you this propaganda?

Do you know the who, what, when, where, why, and how, of Fidel Castro?

Hitler rose to power using and blaming the jews [sic] for the destruction of the German economy. Castro built his army of murderers by blaming the rich bankers and capitalist [sic] for destroying Cuba and taking advantage of the Cuban people. Hummmm?

MAPE executive director James Monroe shot back with his own letter asking for clarification:

While I appreciate your willingness to respond to your constituents, I am deeply troubled about what you wrote and ask you to shed light onto linking a public employee union with the rise of Adolph Hitler and murderous armies of Fidel Castro

Representative Hackbarth, do you really equate advocating for the middle class and Minnesota’s vulnerable citizens as communist propaganda? Do you really believe that when our members ask you to protect 140,000 Minnesotans from losing their MnCare benefits rather than having the richest two percent of Minnesotans paying their fairshare of taxes it compares to the rise of Hitler and targeting the Jews? When did supporting public services for battered women, crime victims and students in public universities become a fascist notion?

Here’s the full exchange:

57776600-Letter-From-MAPE-Executive-Director-Jim-Monroe-to-Representative-Tom-Hackbarth

Margaret Anderson Kelliher

Gubernatorial candidate Margaret Anderson Kelliher picked up an endorsement from Minnesota’s largest union of state professional employees today. MAPE — the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees — announced its support for Anderson Kelliher, who is speaker of the state House of Representatives.

MAPE, which has nearly 13,000 members, interviewed each gubernatorial candidate in Roseville on Monday and Tuesday, before selecting the Minneapolis Democrat as its choice.

“We believe Speaker Kelliher’s proven leadership skills and her ability to manage the state in difficult times make her the strongest candidate,” said MAPE Statewide President Chet Jorgenson. “Speaker Kelliher is willing to bring people together to solve problems in a crisis. She has a history of respect for state workers and the jobs they do. It is for these reasons that MAPE’s elected officials endorsed Speaker Kelliher for governor of Minnesota.”

“We believe she is the most electable candidate in the race,” said MAPE Executive Director Jim Monroe. “Speaker Kelliher can raise the necessary money, has the necessary experience to guide this state in hard times and has a superior campaign structure.”

Here are excerpts from statements issue Tuesday afternoon, mainly by DFLers.

Associate DFL Party Chair Donna Cassutt:

…Governor Pawlenty and the Republicans failed Minnesota — and today, Minnesota’s working families are paying the price of their failure. In slavish adherence to the same failed philosophy that drove America into recession — not to mention his own ambition — Pawlenty and the Republicans have embarked on the arrogant, reckless, and potentially illegal path of unallotment that will hurt hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans — and drive Minnesota’s economy even further into a hole. In the middle of the deepest recession in three decades, it is unconscionable that Governor Pawlenty and the Republicans would cut Minnesotans’ police and fire protection, damage our hospitals, kick Minnesotans off healthcare, and further dim our children’s future rather than do their jobs and negotiate in good faith with the legislative majority.

The governor admits his cuts and deferrals were ‘targeted’—sadly, those targeted clearly include our most vulnerable: those living in poverty, the disabled, children, and seniors. And Pawlenty knows it.

State Senate Assistant Majority Leader Tarryl Clark, DFL-St. Cloud:

The governor is cutting jobs and increasing taxes for renters and property tax payers. For the first time this year, Minnesotans are paying more in property taxes than income taxes, and it is going to get worse. We offered a fair and balanced solution and the governor decided he didn’t want to do his job and negotiate a common-sense budget, so now he’s continuing his attack on the things that make our state great.

The governor made a decision to raise property taxes, cut local public safety, and put our schools at risk because he wasn’t willing to do his job. Instead of working with the Legislature, he and his Republican legislator enablers have chosen to put more Minnesotans out of work. The governor has continued to attack the things that make our state great and put his own political ambitions ahead of the needs of Minnesotans.

St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman:

Minnesota communities were critically hurt today by the governor’s action, and nearly every Minnesotan will personally be affected. It could be in the form of no cop in their kid’s school, higher property taxes, or a local library that is no longer open. Many Minnesotans will think in the coming year that this is not the state they knew, or the state they want it to be.

Over the past six years, Minnesota cities have lost $750 million in local government aid, and as a result property taxes have increased over 65% statewide. This increase in property taxes, however, has fallen short of replacing the lost aid, so essential city services have also been cut back.

Former U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton:

Governor Pawlenty’s drastic unallotments show his  willingness to again sacrifice the best interests of Minnesota on the altar of his presidential ambitions.  Once again, he has chosen to shelter our state’s wealthiest citizens from paying their fair share of taxes, at the expense of schoolchildren, police  officers and firefighters, people without health insurance, hospital and nursing home patients, and others in need.

Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner:

Today’s action by Governor Pawlenty … is clearly a seminal moment in our state’s history. Indeed, it is a sad day when Minnesota’s representative government cannot work together to solve one of the most pressing economic and fiscal disasters our state has ever faced. For anyone to call the governor’s action “strong leadership” would belie the essential meaning of good government and principled service to its constituents.

Clearly, these are difficult times that require difficult decisions, but those decisions are best made after a meaningful debate and within a spirit of compromise. The process we have witnessed was neither.

Today, I call on Governor Pawlenty to remain open to a truly democratic process and call for a special session…

Minneapolis City Council President Barb Johnson:

It is important for everyone to understand that cuts made by the Governor are massive and will be felt by every Minnesotan, and unfortunately those cuts still will not solve the State’s budget problem. Since 2003 the Governor has cut more than $50 million from the fund Minneapolis uses to pay for police officers and firefighters. The people of Minneapolis contribute much more to the state in taxes than we get back, and once again, the Governor has chosen to take the State’s financial problems and pass them on to cities across Minnesota. As local governments, we provide direct services to our residents and visitors—unlike the State, we can’t pass those cuts on to someone else. That’s means we’ll have to continue to make tough choices.

House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher, DFL-Minneapolis:

In just under an hour today, Gov. Pawlenty has done more damage to Minnesota than he has throughout his entire career. The deep cuts he proposes are one more rejection of the fair combination of cuts and revenue preferred by Minnesotans and passed by the Legislature.

State Sen. John Marty, DFL-Roseville:

The governor’s action is in line with his recent veto of the anti-bullying bill. Tim Pawlenty has become the schoolyard bully; he is picking on the sickest, most vulnerable people in our state.

While the governor tried to minimize the impact of his cuts on cities, schools and hospitals, those cuts will cause real harm to real people. But the unallotments where the governor showed the least compassion were in the cuts to health and human services. He used a long string of adjectives to decry the rapid growth of General Assistance Medical Care — even though this growth is caused by more adults losing their jobs and their health care, and in desperation are turning to GAMC.

As his own HHS Commissioner acknowledged, the people Pawlenty hits hardest are the ‘sickest of the sick and the poorest of the poor’.

Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak:

Today Governor Pawlenty has made his choices about how to cut the state budget. I deeply disagree with the governor because his choices will hurt many people. The governor has offered no plan for putting people to work, only for cutting jobs during a tough economy, and has offered no strategy for fixing a broken state budget that continues to lurch from deficit to deficit.

House Minority Leader Marty Seifert, R-Marshall:

Governor Pawlenty today did what Minnesota Democrats cannot: He made government live within its means. Unallotment is not anyone’s ideal solution, but it’s what the session came to when the other side proved they could not set priorities or embrace reform.

Democrats who condemn the governor’s actions seem to forget they had more than five months to find a solution. Had they spent more time working with us on reforms and efficiencies, and less time in committees that produced no results, this day would have been avoided.

Government employees’ unions also weighed in. Here’s what Eliot Seide, director of AFSCME Council 5, had to say:

Governor Pawlenty is wearing unallotment like a badge of honor. It’s a badge of shame that should be worn by every legislator who refused to make taxes fair. They’re willing to wreck Minnesota to protect the wealthy.

We’re the blue-collar workers who take care of South St. Paul, while Pawlenty cuts his hometown. We feed grandma, while they force her nursing home to close. We staff the emergency rooms, while they cut hospitals to the bone. We help minds soar, while they crowd classrooms and hike tuition. We need the Legislature to come back, get the job done, and help us protect strong communities where everyone can thrive.

Jim Monroe of MAPE, the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees:

Governor Pawlenty’s unallotment priorities speak volumes to the fact he has turned his back on Minnesotans while turning his attention to the national spotlight. While he cuts local government aid to communities which will delay hiring police and firefighters, or lay them off, Governor Pawlenty would rather threaten the safety of Minnesotans than lay off members of his full-time security detail who travel all over the country with him.

When it comes to education, Governor Pawlenty turns his back on the public school system and the University of Minnesota which educated him and helped him pull himself up by his bootstraps. Pawlenty’s cuts to state colleges and universities coupled with payment delays to school districts will shred the bootstraps of every high school and potential college student in this state who desires a brighter future.

How can Governor Pawlenty call himself a Sam’s Club Governor when he increases the number of uninsured in this state by 30,000 people knowing full well that every Sam’s Club member and every other Minnesotan will end up paying for our uninsured citizens?

We’ll continue to add reactions here as they come in.