Unallotments expected to be complete by mid-January

Last week’s court ruling against his unilateral budget cuts notwithstanding, all of the $2.7 billion in unallotments announced last summer by Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty are expected to be completed by mid-month.

The only remaining unallotment item: local aid payments to cities and counties, which totals roughly $200 million, according to state budget director Jim Schowalter.

“All of the unallotments for fiscal year 2010, and the vast majority for fiscal year 2011, have been completed,” Schowalter said. “Any gaps beyond that are administrative actions that aren’t made through unallotment authority.”

The latter includes such items as Minnesota’s income tax reciprocity agreement with Wisconsin, which was pronounced dead several months ago but may yet be revived. “That affects revenues, but doesn’t affect how much is available to spend,” Schowalter said.

Three documents on the Minnesota Management and Budget website — dated July 16, July 28 and Aug. 14 — detail state agencies’ progress on implementing the unallotments.

The status of Pawlenty’s unallotment power remains in question in the wake of last week’s ruling by Ramsey County District Judge Kathleen Gearin, which said that the governor overstepped his authority in unallotting $5 million from a nutrition program that provides food to 4,300 elderly and disabled Minnesotans.

Other lawsuits challenging the validity of Pawlenty’s unallotments have been hinted at, but nothing has yet been filed.