MN: AG files lawsuit to keep essential services running during shutdown

[MinneapolisMatt]

Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson Monday on Monday asked a judge to keep needed services open in the event of a government shutdown, offering the first detailed glimpse at the possible scope of a state closure.

The attorney general said in a Ramsey County court filing that without a court order to pay for essential services, "Minnesotans would be deprived of their rights ... and that the life, health, safety and liberty of citizens would be profoundly and irreparably impacted."

The attorney general argued that without such a court order, 1,288 mentally ill patients in the care of the state would no longer get care, 9,000 prisoners would have to be released and that 616 of the most dangerous sex offenders would be out on the streets.

The attorney general argued that Minnesotans who participate in health care programs that receive federal funding should continue to get their full payments.

The state is edging toward a July 1 government shutdown if DFL Gov. Mark Dayton and the Republican-controlled Legislature can't reach a deal on the state's $5 billion projected deficit. Dayton wants to raise taxes on high earners, which the GOP won't agree to. But the GOP wants deeper cuts than the governor will accept.

More: http://www.startribune.com/politics/blogs/123747514.html

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Thanks republicans. Try and spin this one. :puke: