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Pawlenty postpones State of the State speech
February 3, 2003

St. Paul, Minn. — (AP) - There will be circumstances for pomp this week, as freshman Gov. Tim Pawlenty delivers his first state of the state address on Thursday.

The address had been scheduled for Tuesday, but Pawlenty postponed it. A statement from his office said the change was to honor the memory of the Columbia astronauts. A memorial service will be held for them Tuesday in Houston.

Pawlenty has maintained an ambitious speaking schedule in his first month in office, flitting about the state for tours, budget talks and policy proposals. But this will be his first chance to articulate to a mass audience a comprehensive vision for his administration.

Pawlenty will deliver his address from the House chamber at noon.

Charlie Weaver, Pawlenty's chief of staff, said the Republican governor's message would be upbeat - touching on education, criminal justice, roads and jobs.

"A lot of Minnesotans still don't know who he is or what he believes in or what his principles and values are," Weaver said. "It'll be an introduction to Minnesotans of who this governor is and what he hopes to accomplish."

Republican House Speaker Steve Sviggum of Kenyon said he expects to hear Pawlenty describe the budget in terms of an opportunity, downplaying recent rhetoric that has stressed the size of the problem.

"I think that you treat things as an opportunity to redefine government," Sviggum said.

Weaver agreed, "We've got a budget message a week later. That will be plenty negative. We don't need to be negative two weeks in a row."

DFL Senate Majority Leader John Hottinger said he hopes Pawlenty "opens the hand of conciliation," in the speech by discussing the budget not just in numbers but in terms of how changes will affect people.

By the end of the week, Pawlenty may also get a chance to plug in his budget buzzsaw. He's given the Legislature until Friday to agree on a budget balancing plan for the current fiscal year, which ends in June.

So far they haven't come close. If they don't, he has the right - and he says he'll use it - to start cutting state government himself.

The House and Senate have each passed bills to eliminate a projected $356 million deficit. The House followed Pawlenty's ideas closely, except it mostly rejected the governor's plan to cut subsidies for ethanol producers.

Both Republican plans cut $112 million in addition to what's required, in case the economic situation get worse.

The Senate's version doesn't leave as much of a cushion, and Pawlenty has warned that he won't sign the bill if it comes to him.

As negotiations between the House and Senate stalled last week, Sviggum accused Hottinger of essentially encouraging Pawlenty to make the cuts himself so the governor will get the blame. Hottinger dismissed that idea, saying Pawlenty would almost certainly start by cutting things that Democrats hold dear.

Pawlenty has a meeting scheduled with the Legislative Advisory Committee on Wednesday - a first step in the process of allowing him to make cuts on his own.

Elsewhere at the Legislature:

-The House will hold a hearing on a bill Thursday to eliminate, at least in name, the graduation requirements called the Profile of Learning. Pawlenty and education commissioner Cheri Pierson Yecke announced last week they are forming a committee of parents, teachers and education experts to come up with new standards in reading and math by the end of March.

-As early as Wednesday, the House will begin talking about the future of Xcel Energy's Prairie Island nuclear plant in Red Wing. Officials there say the plant will need to shut down earlier in 2007 unless the Legislature expands its ability to store spent waste in outdoor casks beyond the 17 casks authorized in 1994.

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