Infidels Paradise

Democrats: oh no! a balanced budget..whatever shall we do? the future generations may actually avoid being in debt at this rate. sickening

Star Tribune

The Minnesota House decided to tell a judge that Gov. Tim Pawlenty violated the state constitution when he unilaterally balanced the budget last year.

On a party line 14-8 vote this morning, the DFL-controlled House Rules committee today opted to file a brief supporting a lawsuit that protests the governor’s unallotment cuts to two aid programs for poor people.

With the force of today’s vote, House attorneys will tell the Ramsey District court in a “friend of the court” brief that Pawlenty crossed the line on the separation of powers laid out in the Minnesota constitution.

House Majority Leader Tony Sertich, a DFLer from Chisholm and chair of the House Rules committee, said while the vote followed party lines, the decision to reclaim the Legislature’s power was not a political one.

“We are not suing the governor,” Sertich said. “We are giving our opinion on separation of powers.”

Republicans, all of whom voted against the legal move this morning in a hearing, said the filing politically driven.

“It’s absolutely partisan. It’s absolutely political,” said state Rep. Bob Gunther, R-Fairmont.

DFL legislators have said Pawlenty overstepped his authority last year when he trimmed billions of dollars in state spending to balance the budget but had taken no legal action until now.

Monday’s move by the House is a rare one. While a friend-of-the-court brief does not carry the same weight as joining the lawsuit would, it gives clear evidence that DFLers have chosen to challenge Pawlenty’s authority.

The House has not filed a friend-of-the-court brief since the mid-1970s, when it supported a lawsuit seeking improved conditions in state hospitals. Since then, House has sued the governor twice: in 1991 the House and Senate sued then-Gov. Arne Carlson over vetoes and in 1995, the House sued Carlson over Capitol office space.