A huge disappointment

The battle between Minnesota’s Gov. Mark Dayton and Minnesota legislative leaders may have reached a new low last week.

After the Minnesota Supreme Court basically told the two sides to start acting like adults and work together, the two sides met with a mediator last week trying to reach an agreement that would restore funding for the state legislature and while at the same time revisiting several issues Dayton wanted the Legislature to reconsider that were passed during the past session.

After two days of talks, the governor walked away, accusing the legislature of lying to him, to the public and to the Supreme Court about their finances.

Minnesota voters put people into these elected seats to represent them and to set policies and pass laws that will help the state go about its business. For far too many years - predating the Dayton administration, it seems that the two sides end up playing “gotcha” politics, worried more about making a point than in passing and approving legislation that benefits the majority of Minnesotans. We are tired of the politics as usual and want to see our elected representatives and our governor working together for Minnesotans, not working against each other for political victories.

Walking away from negotiations does nothing but add to the chaos that our state government is now experiencing. Instead, they should be working together, compromising and finding solutions to complex issues. That is how government is supposed to work. It would be nice if our elected officials would try it for a change.