Pawlenty confirms that he’ll appeal judge’s unallotment ruling (updated)

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty plans to appeal a judge’s ruling that accused him of treading on the state Constitution when he used his unallotment power earlier this year to cut funding to a $5.3 million nutrition program.

Pawlenty announced his intentions during a hastily called press conference late Thursday morning at the Capitol.

The governor said Ramsey County District Court Judge Kathleen Gearin had “inserted herself into the middle of a political dispute,” and in doing so had misinterpreted the statute that gives the governor the authority to “unallot” budget items.

“One of the long-term dangers of that type of action is to have future state budget debates and discussions be run out of a courtroom instead of out of the legislative process,” the governor said. “That degree of involvement by the court is concerning, to say the least.”

Gearin’s ruling ordered the reinstatement of the Supplemental Aid Special Diet program, which provides cash grants to elderly and disabled MInnesotans on fixed incomes to help them with special dietary needs stemming from health problems. The order makes the reinstatement retroactive to Nov. 1.

In her order, the judge took a few indirect shots at Pawlenty’s use of the unallotment power, saying the governor had “crossed the line” in using it to cut $2.7 billion last summer to balance the state’s budget.

“The authority of the governor to unallot is an authority intended to save the state in times of a previously unforeseen budget crisis,” Gearin wrote. “It is not meant to be used as a weapon by the executive branch to break a stalemate in budget negotiations with the Legislature or to rewrite the appropriations bill.”

“We simply disagree with this judge’s interpretation of the statute,” Pawlenty said during today’s press conference. ” … We believe the judge misapplied and misinterpreted it in significant ways.”

Many of the unallotments in Pawlenty’s plan are not scheduled to take effect until fiscal year 2011. For that portion of the cuts, the governor said, he hopes to work with the Legislature to find solutions during the upcoming legislative session.

However, $1.3 billion of the unallotment impact relates to fiscal year 2010, including $1.1 billion in the form of school payment deferrals (the remainder is $100 million in local government aids and another $100 million in what the governor referred to today as “miscellaneous” health and human services budget items).

Pawlenty said he is hopeful that the school payment deferral plan might still be an option.

“That is something that DFL and Republican legislators agreed upon,” Pawlenty said, noting that the school payment deferral proposal was included in one of the DFL’s budget proposals during the 2009 session. “They signaled to us informally and formally that they support that as part of the budget solution.

“This is not a circumstance where all this money can simply be reinstated; it will have to be addressed legislatively or otherwise.”

Pawlenty said he sent a letter today to legislative leaders, asking them to revisit that solution in an attempt to “stabilize the outlook” for fiscal year 2010.

“Other issues will have to be addressed, of course, but that one step will address it almost entirely for fiscal year 2010,” the governor said. “If that’s unacceptable to DFL legislative leaders, we’ll have to consider other options.

“We’ll first turn to them to see if they’ll agree with us on that substantial piece of it. We hope they will.”

Pawlenty brushed aside the suggestion that his continued unwillingness to solve the state’s budget deficit by agreeing to raise taxes stems from his aspirations to higher office.

“It simply defies all the facts,” he said. “I was in the Legislature for 10 years, and I’ve been governor for going on eight years, which is 18 years in which my positions on these matters have not changed.

“For someone to suggest that it’s somehow motivated by speculation on future office … I have steadfastly, consistently opposed tax increases and advocated tax decreases and strong restraints on spending. This is not some new condition of the last six months or a year.”

Pawlenty said his attorney and the attorney general’s office are working to craft an appeal, which they expect to file next week.

“There are a number of procedural things to be put into place that will involve some interaction with the district and possibly appellate courts,” he said. “We’ll have to see how they’ll allow us to proceed.

“In my view, this is a very acute situation. When the state spends an amount approaching $50 million a day, with every day that goes by you reduce your options. As each day, each week, each month goes by, it becomes more and more concerning.”