MARSHALL - If the state of Minnesota wants to avoid serious consequences caused by budget deficits, Rep. Marty Seifert said Thursday, it needs to start focusing on letting private enterprise grow.

Seifert, R-Marshall, said the state legislature needs to be "focused like a laser beam on creating more private-sector jobs." A big part of that, he said, will be removing legal and bureaucratic barriers to private business and industry.

Seifert was in Marshall on Thursday morning to speak at a meeting of the Sunrise Rotary. Seifert discussed what he thought would be key issues for the Minnesota legislature in the future, as well as his campaign for governor.

If elected governor, Seifert said, he wouldn't be able to enact reforms on his own, but he could provide leadership, and use veto power if necessary to stop legislation that could hurt state finances.

Seifert said state spending will be a major concern when the next legislative session begins in February.

"Currently, we are spending $2 million to $4 million a day more than we are bringing into the treasury," Seifert said. At that rate, he said, Minnesota will be $5.2 billion in debt by the time its next governor takes office.

Cutting spending won't be enough to solve the problem, Seifert said. If Minnesota doesn't increase its tax revenues by encouraging private business, it could risk a financial crisis similar to those being faced in states like California, New York and Michigan.

"The state of Minnesota has an unemployment crisis," Seifert said. But state laws and bureaucracy often prevent new jobs from being created.

Seifert said he had learned of lost opportunities for development around the state while campaigning this year. Examples he gave ranged from a proposed copper and nickel mine near Hoyt Lakes that's been waiting more than four years for a state permit, to a vodka distillery that chose to locate in Iowa instead of Windom because of Minnesota's high annual distillery fees.

Seifert said the state needs to start lifting some of those job growth barriers, "and we need to get started on that immediately."

Besides lifting some of the taxes and regulations that can discourage business, Seifert said, the state needs to look at downsizing state government and outsourcing some of its services to the private sector, "not just for this next session, but every session."

In response to an audience question, Seifert said he still supported local government aid for small cities, but that cities should be prepared for the possibility of more cuts from the legislature in the future.

"Right now cities should do everything they can to cut costs," Seifert said. "Things are going to get ugly . . . I would plan on that getting ratcheted down more."