It looks like Gov. Tim Pawlenty is not going to get his way this time around. According to the Strib, “Ramsey County District Court Judge Kathleen Gearin said the governor ‘trod upon the constitutional power of the Legislature’ when he unilaterally cut the budget last summer through a procedure called unallotment.”
Last summer, Pawlenty announced $2.7 billion in cuts to balance the budget, using an executive power that allows the governor to trim spending on his own after he and the Democratic-controlled Legislature failed to agree on a budget. But, according to Kare11, “several people in the program for the poor sought an injunction to restore money while their court case proceeds.” And they got what they wanted, a temporary restraining order that will keep the money intact indefinitely.
This sounds like a big deal, right? But… The Minnesota Independent clarifies a few points:
The ruling reverses cuts to the Minnesota Supplemental Aid Special Diet program retroactively to Nov. 1, pending a hearing in the case set for March 1, 2010.
But the order doesn’t affect Pawlenty’s unallotment cuts to other programs. Nor does it prohibit Pawlenty or the state Legislature “from the exercise of their legitimate constitutional power in light of the current budget issues facing the State of Minnesota.”
2 Reader Comments
12:55 am
True that the TRO doesn’t affect other programs Pawlenty unallotted, but Eric Black, over at MinnPost notes that the judge’s ruling suggests that others affected could expect a similar ruling if they chose to follow suit.http://www.minnpost.com/ericblack/2009/12/30/14596/bulletin_judge_grants_order_temporarily_restraining_pawlentys_use_of_unallotmentPawlenty’s response seems to indicate he may just attempt another unilateral unallotment, but if the first attempt is suspect (and the TRO requires a reasonable likelihood of prevailing) , I have to think another attempt, with a legislative session only a month away, would be even more suspect.
11:34 am
This is huge for the Minnesotans who depended on the MSA Supplemental food grant. Also, it is going to, hopefully, bring attention to the program for others on MSA so they can get their diet supplements.Plus, I love to see Pawlenty smacked down. But of course that’s my personal, at lunch not at work, opinion.