Senate Passes Bills to Keep Minnesota Zoo, Other Services Open During State Shutdown

Minnesota students, home safety and families who visit the should not be used as leverage if the state's budget bills are not passed, say two state senators carrying bills to continue certain state services should the state face another .

The bills passed the Minnesota Senate on Monday.

“There is already plenty of pressure for the Legislature to get its job done,” said Sen. John Carlson (R-Bemidji), who is authoring a bill to allow MnSCU schools to be kept open using existing reserves, tuition and fees, in a press release from the Senate Media Office. “A shutdown creates new roadblocks to the accounts that allow it to pay its expenses.”

Sen. Al DeKruif (R-Elysian) said in the release that he agreed: “The unnecessary shutdown of 2011 revealed the state government’s extraordinary reach into commerce and certain areas that it should not. This is not good government.”

DeKruif is the author of two bills: SF1844 would keep the Minnesota Zoo open and operating during a shutdown, and SF1551 would allow electrical inspectors to keep working during a state shutdown.

During the 2011 shutdown, the Court deemed some employees essential and decided that the due to animal welfare, the Zoo .

The Minnesota Zoo generates funds that are deposited in a dedicated fund for the operation and maintenance of the facility. In 2011, the estimated net cost to the zoo in lost revenue net of cost savings, was estimated to be between $50,000 (per the MN Zoo Foundation) and $132,000 (per MMB fiscal note) for the two days the zoo was closed.

Electrical inspections were highlighted because most electrical inspections are done by state-contracted inspectors, not local entities, so this area was particularly impacted by the shutdown. Electrical inspections are not funded through the General Fund. Rather, they are a fee-for-service paid for by permit fees in a separate Construction Code Fund account.

“We must never compromise safety for political purposes,” DeKruif said in the release.

Carlson’s SF 1780 would allow MnSCU to access its funds that are under control of Minnesota Management & Budget and pay MMB for its services in the event of a budget impasse.

While the University of Minnesota keeps its funds separate from state coffers, MMB acts as a bank for MnSCU. Even if there is no state appropriation, MnSCU may have funds from tuition and other revenue that it is allowed to carry over. 

The problem is that when the state shuts down so might MMB, which would leave MnSCU without access to its funds, Carlson said. The change would level the playing field between MnSCU, UMN and private colleges in the event of a shutdown.

Carlson says this measure remedies a barrier to current state law says that MnSCU “should strive to provide uninterrupted service and instruction to students.”