Jun 17, 2009 6:42 pm US/Central
Who Was Spared From Pawlenty's Budget Cuts?
(WCCO)
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So Mayor Bill Spitzer was shocked when Pawlenty exempted St. Charles from the budget cuts bigger cities got. (File)
CBS
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty used emergency budget powers to slash more than $730 million. The cuts will be felt by many across the state.
Hit hardest by the unallotment:
• Cities and counties local government aid - $300 million
• Health and welfare programs - $230 million
• Higher education - $100 million
However, not everyone is scrambling to make up for budget cuts including the small southeastern Minnesota town of St. Charles.
That's where a terrible fire in April burned down a turkey plant, the largest employer in the city of 3600.
So Mayor Bill Spitzer was shocked when Pawlenty exempted St. Charles from the budget cuts bigger cities got.
"When we heard the news we were, of course, pretty ecstatic," said Spitzer.
St. Charles is the only city with more than 1000 people which did not get cut. The fire was bad enough, but the town was still recovering from record floods in 2007.
"When I heard the news that St. Charles was exempt that was just one positive thing that happened for our community in light of a couple of disasters that have happened over the last couple of years," said Spitzer.
Minnesota cities and counties took the brunt of the budget cuts. However, Pawlenty exempted property-poor cities with fewer than 1000 people.
"That will have the effect of exempting over 50 percent of the cities and towns in the entire state," said Pawlenty on Tuesday. "So they will experience no reduction."
The governor also exempted from budget cuts five Minnesota counties with fewer than 5000 people: Kittson, Lake of the Woods, Mahnomen, Red Lake and Traverse counties.
Pawlenty spared military programs, including the National Guard, from any cuts, as well as public safety agencies like the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the Minnesota State Patrol. Prisons won't get any cutbacks, either.
And the only thing that kept the governor from cutting some health care and other programs for the poor was a threat from Washington, D.C. to take away stimulus money if he did.
"We were very careful to make sure that none of those trip wires were hit," said Pawlenty.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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