Moe: A difficult 2010 session just got more difficult

Roger Moe might be one of the few people in Minnesota not surprised by this afternoon’s ruling from Judge Kathleen Gearin stopping Gov. Tim Pawlenty from unalloting money for the Minnesota Supplemental Aid Special Diet program.

“I can kind of see the rationale. The unallotment process, which has been in place for a long time, was obviously never intended to be used like the governor used it,” the former DFL Senate majority leader and gubernatorial candidate said when reached by telephone early this evening at his home in Erskine.

Moe had not read the order from Gearin, but his response echoed Gearin’s own explanation of her decision. She wrote:

“The authority of the Governor to unallot is an authority intended to save the state in times of a previously unforeseen budget crisis, 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.”

Moe said today’s ruling “just makes a difficult 2010 session a little more difficult. Maybe a lot more.”

Yeah, just think of the mess that might result if everyone who got unalloted goes to the courts for a TRO against the governor. Especially a governor who’s trying to parlay a “never raise taxes or die” pledge into a run for the White House in 2012.

Looks like 2010 will be interesting at the Capitol.

Moe added: “When you start to add a deficit going in, strained relationships going in, and an election year and now this, pretty soon your soup kettle has a lot more vegetables in it.”