Minnesota Government Shutdown Affects Few Hudson Residents

The state government of Minnesota has shut down.

After weeks of intense negotiations, capped by closed-door sessions through the waning minutes of June 30, Gov. Mark Dayton and Republican lawmakers failed to agree on an operating budget for the coming biennium.

Though most Wisconsin residents aren't directly impacted by the shutdown, many Hudson residents work for the Minnesota state government or are indirectly affected.

Hudson resident Bill Dunn's father and great-grandfather both served as Republican state senators in Minnesota, and Dunn commuted to his job as a clean water revolving fund coordinator at the Pollution Control Agency in Minnesota until he was laid off as part of the Minnesota government shutdown.

He came to the Minnesota capitol steps Thursday night.

"My father and my great-grandfather both served in this building for more than 30 years combined as Republicans and they never shut down the government."

Dunn refused to be upset about the shutdown.

"There's nothing I can do," he said. "Besides, I'm one of the lucky ones financially."

But his two children were more disturbed.

"My 12-year-old daughter cried that I wasn't going to be able to pay my bills."

Last week, Hudson residents were concerned that a government shutdown would mean that MnDOT would close the Stillwater Lift Bridge, routing additional heavy traffic through downtown Hudson during the city's Booster Days festival. The bridge was deemed a critical service and will be operational during the government shutdown.

Matthew Densow, who works in ranger operations at Willow River State Park just outside Hudson, said he expects park usage in early July to be about the same as usual despite the state park closures just across the border.

"We've definitely had a lot of calls asking if we if had availability for camping, but Fourth of July weekend everyone generally has their reservations months and months in advance," Densow said. "So we really haven't seen any difference so far. With a nice weekend, we might have an uptick, but who knows. It's hard to say."