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Both sides touted an agreement that balanced a $935 million shortfall without increasing taxes. The compromise also included measures to trim property taxes, reform health care and expand mass transit in the Twin Cities.
But local lawmakers were less than sunny in their assessments of the agreement, which could bring cuts to local health care centers.
Rep. Gene Pelowski, DFL-Winona, said the deal used too many one-time revenue sources to bridge the budget gap — including $500 million from state reserves. With next year’s budget shortfall estimated at $2 billion, local lawmakers said the compromise didn’t include enough hard, long-term decisions to either cut spending or raise revenue.
“I’m afraid we’re giving people a false sense of security,” Pelowski said. “We didn’t solve anything.”
Pelowski was one of a handful of House lawmakers to vote against the budget bill, which included cuts in Medical Assistance payments to hospitals for low-income patients.
The cuts are expected to strip more than $800,000 from Winona Health’s budget, said Mike Allen, the hospital’s top financial officer.
Rep. Ken Tschumper, DFL-La Crescent, voted for the budget bill. But he criticized the cuts for shifting the cost burden of hospital visits onto patients with private insurance.
“This is a zero-sum game,” Tshumper said.
Another health care provision increased state payments to nursing homes by 2 percent — a move applauded by Rep. Steve Drazkowski, R-Wabasha. However, he noted that other long-term care facilities received no payment increases.
Drazkowski agreed with other lawmakers that Minnesota’s budget has “a structural issue.” He said DFL legislators weren’t willing to consider deeper reduction to health care and social programs.
“It was pretty evident that the Democrats didn’t want to make cuts,” Drazkowski said.
Contact Mark Sommerhauser at (507) 453-3514 or msommerhauser@winonadailynews.com.
