When Democrats do choose to answer questions about why they have no plan of their own, their new talking point is that, unlike the governor, they don’t have the time or resources to develop a full proposal:

Kelliher notes that the governor had all of the state’s commissioners and finance experts working on the budget for months. The Legislature does not have those resources.

“He’s had 7½ months. It’s unrealistic to expect us to respond in just a few days,” she said.
DFL legislators keep hearing that dreaded four-letter word: When? - MinnPost.com

While Democrats act surprised by the budget deficit, here is a timeline to consider:

November 30, 2006: “While it looks good, we have lived the effects of how fast a budget surplus can go away.” - Margaret Anderson Kelliher commenting on the $2.2 billion budget surplus Democrats inherited when they took control of the Minnesota House and seemingly warning that it may not lost forever.
February 2007: The long-term budget outlook for FY 2010-11 has declined since November. - MMB Forecast Summary, page 7
November 2007: FY 2010-11 Planning Estimates Turn Negative; The reductions in the 2008-09 revenue forecast combined with the underlying growth in projected spending, result in a $211 million structural shortfall in the [2010-11] biennium.  - MMB Forecast Summary, page 6
February 2008: Projected Shortfall for 2010-11 Biennium Has Grown; Budget planning estimates for FY 2010-11 now show a shortfall of $1.086 billion. - MMB Forecast Summary, page 1

As evidenced, Democrats were warned about a deficit for the 2010-11 budget in February 2007.  Undeterred, they proceeded to spend the entire $2.2 billion surplus and grow state government spending by 10 percent.  These warnings, combined with the fact that the Legislature has at its disposal a wealth of expert fiscal and research staff (partisan and nonpartisan) debunk Democrats’ latest attempt to explain away their inaction.

Phil Sterner and the rest of the DFL need to take responsibility for this inaction on the state’s budget deficit.  Only when they admit they have a problem will they be able to address the problem.