Closing a State? The Rules Are Tricky

By MONICA DAVEY
NYT

ST. PAUL — With no sign of a budget deal in sight, Minnesota awoke on Saturday to Day 2 of a government shutdown and, if anything, more confusion — rather than clarity — about how one actually carries out this sort of thing.

Consider these tricky rules: The State Department of Revenue says it still expects people to pay their taxes, but it will not be sending out refunds. Residents may renew their driver’s licenses in certain locations, but no actual driver’s exams will be offered. The Minnesota Zoo is closed to visitors, but a “Music in the Zoo” concert series was to proceed (though no animals would be on display).

Any questions?

As Minnesota’s politicians, whose clash over how to fix the state’s deficit led to a shutdown that began Friday, took what some described as a cooling-off period without further negotiations this weekend, Minnesotans were left to navigate what it really meant to close a state — a situation rarely undertaken in the nation and, it seemed by Saturday, one with few sure, simple rules.

(More here.)