Overheard at the Capitol: Unallotment lawsuits? You go first

Much of the post-session buzz has revolved around the specter of legal challenges to Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s expansive use of unallotment powers to balance the Minnesota budget. In short, a lot of people are betting there will be lawsuits. But so far no one from the sectors most likely to be affected–think health care and local units of government–has rattled a saber publicly.

And many of the same folks who expect to see litigation doubt that it could succeed. As one veteran lobbyist put it yesterday, "I talked to a lawyer for the Legislature, and he told me he just doesn’t see it. The courts have given great latitude to gubernatorial powers in the past, and [unallotment] is a power the Legislature expressly granted the governor. It would be hard to overturn what [Pawlenty] does."

That judgment is compounded by political fears, as another longtime Capitol lobbyist admitted. "One person holds all the cards right now," he said, "and as a result we’re all a little skittish about how we approach the governor. You hate to say it, but when one person holds all the cards, you have to think twice about challenging them for fear of future repercussions."

The first source also tells us that House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher (DFL-Minneapolis) is holding a meeting today for groups likely to be affected by the governor’s budget cuts, and that one purpose of the gathering is thought to be taking their temperature to see who might be contemplating legal action.

There’ll be more about the legal ferment over unallotment in tomorrow’s edition of the subscriber-only PIM Weekly Report.