July 1, 2011 | Read Time: 1 minute
As Minnesota’s governor and legislators failed to break a budget impasse, the government shut down Friday, cutting off aid to many nonprofits that do business with the state, says the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
Thousands of employees with nonprofit and commercial contractors are likely to join the 23,000 state workers who are forced to go on furlough as the government ceased all activities save those deemed “critical functions” in a judge’s ruling earlier this week.
The Minnesota Council of Nonprofits has been working with charities for several weeks on contingency plans for continuing operations in the event of a shutdown.
Land acquisition and engineering work by local conservation groups could also be slowed or stopped until a budget deal restores their aid, according to the Star Tribune.
