Gerlach Marches in Apple Valley Parade, Returns to Capitol Tuesday

Some residents were critical, some supportive of their legislators this weekend, according to an article by Christopher Snowbeck on twincities.com, as many of Minnesota's lawmakers took to local Fourth of July parades.

Gerlach (R-District 37), Apple Valley, said he wanted to make sure he was in the Apple Valley Freedom Days Fourth of July parade to hear perspectives from constituents.

"No good" has come out of the state government shutdown, Gerlach said Monday, and it has been "completely unnecessary from the beginning."

He said at this stage, as legislators head back to the Capitol on Tuesday and party leaders continue negotiating with Gov. Mark Dayton, it's "critical" to receive public input.

"The public really has to weight in on this," he said Monday.

Gerlach is the state Senate's Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee chairman, so he is most involved with the environment, commerce and energy omnibus budget bill, he said; the commerce portion of that bill represents about $30 million to $35 million out of a budget that Republicans want to set at about $34 billion.

That omnibus bill is one that Gerlach said Dayton would have been able to sign prior to the shutdown deadline, had Dayton decided to sign separate omnibus bills that were already agreed upon by both parties, rather than waiting for an agreement on the entire budget package.

"We are very close on it," Gerlach said in reference to the environment, commerce and energy budget bill.

Gerlach said there were several of the omnibus bills on which both sides had come to an agreement that have yet gone unsigned, which is "frustrating."

"Dayton wants this to be as difficult as possible," Gerlach said.

Dayton said in a press conference on Thursday night last week—prior to the beginning of the shutdown—that .

"I offered a plan to raise the taxes of only those Minnesotans who make more than $1 million per year," Dayton said at the Thursday press conference. "That is less than 0.3 percent of the state population. Despite many hours of negotiations, the Republican caucus remains adamantly opposed to new taxes."

Dayton's budget goals and Republicans' remained about $1.4 billion apart last week.

Gerlach said overall he's received "pretty positive" responses to his and his party's efforts in budget negotiations, though there has been some anger. He said he receives a lot of emails about the issue, but fewer phone calls or in-person feedback.

Follow all Apple Valley Patch's coverage of the state shutdown .