Entenza Statement on Tim Pawlenty's Final State-of-the-State Address

ST. PAUL, Minn. - In reaction to Gov. Tim Pawlenty's final state-of-the-state address, Matt Entenza has issued the following statement:

"With joblessness rising and Minnesota's credit rating in peril, the governor is doing same-old, same-old - not presenting the new ideas we need.

"He talked today about facing challenges. We certainly do face them. And we have overcome them in the past - but we've overcome them because we've had leaders with vision.

"Yesterday, we learned that a top credit ratings agency had lowered the outlook for Minnesota's credit from stable to negative, in large part because our leaders have spent our savings on short-term fixes instead of ensuring our long-term success. Because of the lack of leadership in St. Paul, we are now hamstrung; we're less able to do things that will enable us to grow jobs.

"No vision, no real ideas for how to make Minnesota work again. That sums up the state of the state under our current leadership."

Matt Entenza's campaign for governor of Minnesota is about growing the economy, creating jobs all over Minnesota by focusing on the potential of clean energy, and refocusing on education as the engine of future job creation and economic competitiveness. Entenza was a white-collar crime prosecutor prior to representing St. Paul in the Minnesota legislature for 12 years, including four years during which he also served as House Minority Leader and led the DFL to significant gains. In 2007, Entenza founded Minnesota 2020, a think tank that has been an important voice for progressive policy positions and which he chaired until April 2009. Entenza is a graduate of Worthington High School in Worthington, Minn., Macalester College in St. Paul, and the University of Minnesota Law School.

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