The biggest unallotment target? Tim Pawlenty

Within an hour of announcing his unallotment targets this afternoon, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty might have felt like he had a target painted on his own back.

"In just under an hour today, Gov. Pawlenty has done more damage to Minnesota than he has throughout his entire career," Rep. Margaret Anderson Kelliher (DFL-Minneapolis), the speaker of the House, said in a prepared statement. "The deep cuts he proposes are one more rejection of the fair combination of cuts and revenue preferred by Minnesotans and passed by the Legislature.

Others checked in in equally outraged tones.

"Gov. Pawlenty’s unallotment priorities speak volumes to the fact he has turned his back on Minnesotans while turning his attention to the national spotlight," Jim Monroe, executive director of the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees (MAPE), said. "While he cuts local government aid to communities which will delay hiring police and firefighters … Gov. Pawlenty would rather threaten the safety of Minnesotans than lay off members of his full-time security detail who travel all over the country with him."

Minnesota 2020, a progressive think tank founded last year by DFLer Matt Entenza — one of seemingly dozens of announced (and unannounced) candidates seeking the DFL’s endorsement for governor next year — offered a team reaction approach.

"Gov. Pawlenty’s service cuts and budget shifts announced this afternoon will hurt Minnesotans for years to come," thundered John Van Hecke, Minnesota 2020’s executive director. "Higher education, public safety, community services, public education — all of these critical programs are on the chopping block. … These cuts take our state in the wrong direction. The governor says he wants to make Minnesota more competitive, but by underfunding our cities, towns and schools, we decrease Minnesota’s ability to produce smart, skilled workers and to compete for viable employers and good jobs down the road."

Added John Fitzgerald, the group’s education fellow: "Shifting state aid to public education from one year to the next is a devastating blow to Minnesota’s schools. Because of Gov. Pawlenty’s decision, those school districts that have a balanced budget will now have to borrow money to pay their bills and then have the additional burden of paying interest on that loan."

And from Jeff Van Wychen, Minnesota 2020’s tax fellow: "Citizens across Minnesota can count on increases in property taxes while seeing cuts to local services, like police, fire and public parks. In short, Minnesotans will be paying more and getting less."

House Majority Leader Tony Sertich (DFL-Chisholm) was singing a similar tune. "It is often said that a state budget is a moral document, representing what we value about the people and institutions of our state," Sertich’s statement said. "If that is true, the cuts announced by the governor today indicate he places little value on working Minnesotans, those who are in need of affordable health care, and our students of all ages who depend on public education to receive a world-class education."