Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton is in southern Minnesota today to tell his side of the budget impasse with republican lawmakers. The standoff has led to a state government shutdown that is now in its 13th day.
The governor said he's traveling around the state to "communicate to Minnesotans what's at stake for them" and "how important it is that all of our voices are heard so that we have a balanced, reasonable compromise solution, hopefully as quickly as possible."
Meanwhile, republican leaders gathered at the state capital to call for a special session again. They have yet to make a new budget offer since the shutdown began. No new budget talks scheduled.
The state shutdown is having an effect that reaches beyond the borders of Minnesota.
Jessica and Craig Porter of Somerset, Wisconsin have their newly adopted baby's room all ready, but the shutdown is forcing little Ezra to sleep in a playpen across the river in Minnesota.
Because of the shutdown, this new family is stuck at a hotel until lawmakers strike a deal. WCCO's James Schugel tells their story.
Being new parents is all Craig and Jessica Porter could have imagined.
They're living out of suitcases, stuck in a Stillwater hotel room, baby stuff is stashed wherever it'll fit. "I felt the extra pressure of having everything we could possible need to anticipate anything that may arise in the next few weeks," Jessica explains.
She and Craig don't know how long they'll live here. The problem is, since Minnesota's government is shutdown they can't get adoption papers signed-off and sent to Wisconsin for approval in order to bring their newborn baby boy, Ezra, home to Somerset, right across the river.
"Everybody gets to come home from the hospital and go about life and make plans, and we're just more limited," Craig says.
No convenient kitchen dishwasher means Jessica rinses baby-bottles in the bathroom. It's not nearly what she ever imagined her first days of motherhood would be like.
Craig and Jessica waited 7 years to welcome a child into their arms. They know they'll have to wait longer to bring him where he belongs: home. "Just anxious to bring him home and have him in his own little room. "
Jessica's dreaming about feeding her son in the middle of the night, on the couch, while Craig sleeps in the other room. She wants to take Ezra to church and enjoy time together with family.
It's the newborn moments these new parents don't know when they'll get to experience.
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