Lake Elmo, Minn. ? Like most high school students, Jana Graczyk couldn’t have cared less about the political warfare at the state Capitol. That is, until it threatened her chance to get the prized possession of most teenagers – a driver’s license.

Minnesotans like Graczyk are suddenly paying attention to a standoff between the governor and state lawmakers that, if not resolved by July 1, could mean 16,000 layoffs, the closing of parks and rest stops, and no licenses for new drivers.

The dispute is over tax increases and health care for the poor, and with just a week to avert a shutdown, talks at the Capitol are at a standstill.

Graczyk turns 16 on July 2. She was looking forward to a summer of tooling around this St. Paul suburb in her family’s minivan, driving herself to violin lessons, soccer practice and outings with her friends.

“It doesn’t seem fair,” Graczyk said. “Just because they can’t get their jobs done.”

The standoff pits Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty against Democrats who once dominated state politics but are now clinging to a power base in the state Senate.

Democrats say they cannot accept the governor’s proposal to cut up to 30,000 people from state-sponsored health care for the working poor, calling it a betrayal of Minnesota’s long progressive tradition. Pawlenty charges that Democrats want a government shutdown to embarrass him in the run-up to his 2006 re-election campaign.

“I think it’s a political strategy for them, sadly,” Pawlenty said last week. “I think it’s a cynical strategy.”

It is the governor who’s playing politics, Democrats insist.

“He’s only interested in press conferences and TV appearances and doing talk radio,” said Sen. Dean Johnson, the leader of Senate Democrats. “If he put half as much energy into solving this problem, we’d have been done weeks ago.”

It is not uncommon for state lawmakers around the country to miss budget deadlines and go into special session to finish the job. But Minnesota, unlike at least a dozen states, lacks a law to automatically extend government spending past the end of its fiscal year if a new budget isn’t approved.

At issue is a projected budget deficit of $466 million that must be erased, plus a desire among both parties to boost spending on schools. But how to get there has produced deep divisions.

Pawlenty, who signed a no-new-tax pledge before winning his first term, angered Democrats when he said their proposal to raise taxes on the state’s wealthiest citizens was “profoundly stupid.” The governor wants to cut spending on health care.