Day 8

On July 4th, day 4 of the Minnesota state government shutdown, I said, in reference to the indignation inducing situation wherein the legislators who failed to balance the state budget continue to collect their paychecks while the  22,000 laid off state employees do not get paid:

Think of those state workers as the ice-cubes in the legislator's drinks this weekend  — as taxpayers they — and all Minnesotans — contribute to the cool refreshment in the legislator's hands, the delightful tinkle of ice in the sweltering heat, the refreshment of cold sips and wet lips — while at the same time the workers slowly melt under the pressure of the heat of being unemployed.

They are not the legislators slurping on the big straw of greed and sucking the life out of Minnesota's economy

Here's an update to that observation, a list, provided by City Pages, of those Minnesota lawmakers in the House of Representatives not accepting their salary:

Out of the 134 state representatives in Minnesota, 48 of them are declining their paychecks.

From City Pages:
In alphabetical order, the House members who declined paychecks this month are:
Paul Anderson (R)
Tom Anzelc (DFL)
Joe Atkins (DFL)
John Benson (DFL)
Kurt Bills (R)
Kathy Brynaert (DFL)
Lyndon Carlson (DFL)
Tony Cornish (R)
Roger Crawford (R)
Denise Dittrich (DFL)
Connie Doepke (R)
Keith Downey (R)
Steve Drazkowski (R)
Sondra Erickson (R)
Andrew Falk (DFL)
Pat Garofalo (R)
Mindy Greiling (DFL)
David Hancock (R)
Melissa Hortman (DFL)
Sheldon Johnson (DFL)
Phyllis Kahn (DFL)
Debra Kiel (R)
Kate Knuth (DFL)
Carolyn Laine (DFL)
Ann Lenczewski (DFL)
Diane Loeffler (DFL)
Kathy Lohmer (R)
Jennifer Loon (R)
Tim Mahoney (DFL)
Pat Mazorol (R)
Carolyn McElfatrick (R)
Carol McFarlane (R)
Terry Morrow (DFL)
Joe Mullery (DFL)
Erin Murphy (DFL)
Mary Murphy (DFL)
Rich Murray (R)
Kim Norton (DFL)
Michael Paymar (DFL)
Bev Scalze (DFL)
Steve Simon (DFL)
Linda Slocum (DFL)
Peggy Scott (R)
Chris Swedzinski (R)
Paul Thissen (DFL)
John Ward (DFL)
Doug Wardlow (R)
Ryan Winkler (DFL)

And here is one sucking away because he "simply isn't sure he can afford to pass up his legislative salary"

The Post-Bulletin reports that despite the shutdown, many lawmakers continue to take checks. Here's an excerpt:

"One legislator said he simply isn't sure he can afford to pass up his legislative salary during a shutdown.

Rep. Larry Hosch, DFL-St. Joseph, has a reason for that: He says he's being laid off from his other job as a social worker because of the shutdown.

Hosch works for Independent Lifestyles, a Central Minnesota nonprofit agency that serves people with disabilities. It receives state funds, part of which may be cut off during a shutdown, Independent Lifestyles executive director Cara Ruff told the Times.

"It's personal, the shutdown," Hosch said. "I definitely am seeing the effects of it, it seems, from every corner of my life."

Legislators were given a choice about whether to accept their July paycheck, which was issued Friday." Source: Post-Bulletin

As for the other half of the legislature, only 14 state senators are turning down a paycheck so far. A full Senate list is not available at this time, but City Pages says they are working on it.


A good idea

California has a new law stipulating that if the legislators don't balance the budget — they don't get paid. I heard about it from a co-worker. You can read about it here: Business Insider


You balance the budget


Image courtesy MinnPost

Want to try your hand at balancing the budget? Check out "You fix the Minnesota deficit" By Sharon Schmickle at MinnPost.com