Legislature Plots To Unallot Gov's Unallotment Powers

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June 30, 2009
Governor Tim Pawlenty has taken his power to cut budgets "too far" according to Minnesota Speaker of The House Margaret Anderson Kelliher.

She made it very clear the legislature will react next session and trim those powers, bringing the 1930s era unallotment law more into line with what other states do.

The Speaker argued with Governor Pawlenty's Finance Commissioner Tom Hansen about who had done what to get Minnesota in such a budget mess. Anderson Kelliher accused Hansen of "trying to rewrite history for everyone in the room" by claiming the legislature had not passed a balanced budget. Hansen also called the way the budget was passed "untransparent".

That statement seems to contradict Governor Pawlenty's own rational for not having any public hearings about his budget cuts, otherwise known as unallotments. The Governor has said public hearings were not needed because the legislature had held many hours of hearings on the budget and all the facts were known.