Was Governor Pawlenty acting to solve an "unanticipated" problem... or did he create a financial crisis and overstep his powers as granted by Minnesota's constitution? The answer to that question may be decided in Ramsey County court where five people have filed a suit that could undo several billion dollars of "unallotments" the Governor made at the end of this year's legislative session. Governor Pawlenty took the action after he vetoed a balanced budget passed by the legislature and then removed funding to bring the budget back into balance. Former US Attorney David Lillehaug counseled the people who filed the suit. He talked with Mike McIntee about it during Friday's "Quick On The UpTake" show. "In my judgment the law does not allow that" said Lillehaug of the Governor's action, "and now we'll find out for sure." "The lawsuit... alleges the Governor violated the unallotment statute in the way that he did it and second that what he did violates the separation of powers requirement to the Minnesota constitution. So this may be one of the most important constitutional cases in Minnesota history. "The theory is the legislature passes laws. The Governor can veto a law, but can have his veto overridden. But once the law is passed and signed, the Governor must faithfully execute the laws. Execute means implement... it doesn't mean shoot the law. "And what the Governor did through his own actions, vetoing the tax bill, create a deficit. And then he said 'now were going to use unallotment to make sure that a bunch of this money is spent.' And if you add up the cuts and the deferrals over a two year period, you're talking about $2.5 Billion. "Now it seems to me, and the Minnesota constitution provides that under separation of powers, the legislature is to pass the laws. The Governor is not to make the law and is not to reorder the state's budget through his use of a power that's not even mentioned in the Minnesota constitution. "Essentially what unallotment does, especially this early in the ...
