Dayton's Veto Upheld
This morning the Minnesota Supreme Court upheld Gov. Mark Dayton's line-item veto of the Minnesota Legislature's operating budget and, in doing so, prolonged the ongoing uncertainty over the legislature’s ability to keep its doors open. In overturning a Ramsey County District Court ruling that found the veto unconstitutional, the Supreme Court held that the line-item veto of the legislature’s budget complied with the law and that the state constitution does not allow the Court to order funding for the Legislature absent an appropriation. The Court’s ruling is seen as a major victory for the Dayton administration as it attempts to force legislative leaders to reopen the 2017 Omnibus Tax bill he previously signed into law and repeal a number of provisions he finds objectionable.
The ongoing conflict stems from what Gov. Dayton decried in May as a “reprehensible sneak attack” when a provision was included in an omnibus budget bill that linked the Minnesota Department of Revenue’s operating budget to the governor’s approval of the omnibus tax bill. Questioning the constitutionality of Dayton’s line-item veto, Speaker of the House Kurt Daudt and Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, on behalf of the Minnesota Legislature as a whole, sued the governor in Ramsey County District Court in mid-June. A month later, Ramsey County Judge John Guthmann ruled that the line-item veto was unconstitutional, therefore null and void and the legislative appropriation had become law with the rest of the Omnibus State Government Finance bill. The Dayton Administration appealed the case to the Minnesota Supreme Court, which, in September, preliminarily upheld the constitutionality of the governor’s veto and ordered legislative leaders and the governor into mediation. However, when that mediation reached an impasse, the matter returned to the Supreme Court and set the stage for today’s ruling.
Earlier this morning, the Legislative Coordinating Commission, the “umbrella organization” for legislative commissions, joint agencies, and other boards, approved a transfer of funds that will allow the Minnesota Senate to continue to operate past Dec. 1, the day upon which it would have previously exhausted its reserve funds. The House of Representatives has additional reserve funds that may allow them to operate into early 2018. However, there is ongoing uncertainty as to whether, absent a budget appropriation, the Senate can continue to make payments on the revenue bonds used to pay for its highly controversial new office building. There is concern that failure to make those payments could negatively impact the state’s credit rating.
The legislature is set to gavel in the 2018 legislative session on Tuesday, Feb. 20. It remains to be seen what happens between now and then, but many Capitol insiders would expect the legislature, upon returning to session, to immediately declare an emergency and pass legislation reinstating its budget appropriation. Dayton would then have the ability to either sign the bill and allow the legislature to operate as usual or, again, veto the budget and put into doubt the possibility of a 2018 legislative session as a whole.
|
Subscribe
Our Team
Peter Coyle
952-896-3214
Email
Peder Larson
952-896-3257
Email
Margaret Vesel
952-896-3371
Email
Robert Long
952-896-3232
Email
Matthew Bergeron
952-896-3203
Email
Gerald Seck
952-896-3205
Email
Keep in Touch
Visit us on the Web
Follow us on Twitter
Follow us on LinkedIn
|