Dayton's Office: 'Be Ready'

“Be ready.”

That's the message from Gov. Mark Dayton’s chief of staff, Tina Smith, and Minnesota Management and Budget commissioner Jim Schowalter.

Smith and Schowalter sounded cautious optimism in a conference call with media on Tuesday afternoon.

“There are a lot of assumptions right now,” Schowalter said. “But it is important to remind everyone that normal operations will not resume immediately. The bills must pass both bodies and then be signed into law by the governor.”

Schowalter said that while the timing and enactment of the bills is still uncertain, after Dayton signs them, money will become available to the respective agencies the following day.

It’s “unlikely,” Smith said, that state workers would go back to their jobs Wednesday, noting the logistics of passing the legislation and contacting workers. Each agency will have its own process for resuming operations, and state employees will be given 24 hours notice to return to work, Schowalter explained.

Smith and Schowalter concluded the call by encouraging Minnesotans to check out the Be Ready website, created by the state to deliver real-time information.

“We are moving forward with two things right now: urgency and common sense,” Smith said.

“The goal,” Smith reiterated, “is to restart the government as quickly as we can and get Minnesotans back to work.”