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Vetoing the Legislature

Republicans, Dayton should find a political solution to funding rift

Posted 6/14/17

Republicans in the Minnesota Legislature thought they were being clever when they inserted a provision in the Government Operations funding bill this year designed to force Gov. Mark Dayton’s hand …

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Vetoing the Legislature

Republicans, Dayton should find a political solution to funding rift

Posted

Republicans in the Minnesota Legislature thought they were being clever when they inserted a provision in the Government Operations funding bill this year designed to force Gov. Mark Dayton’s hand on the GOP’s top priority: A revenue bill chock full of tax cuts for everyone from businesses owners to the smokers of premium cigars.

Under normal circumstances, Dayton would almost certainly have vetoed the measure, except for that odd GOP provision added at the last minute, which would have stripped all funding for the state’s Department of Revenue unless Dayton signed off on the tax cuts.

Dayton signed the tax bill rather than risk tossing 1,300 state workers into the unemployment line. At the same time, he turned the tables on the GOP, by using his line- item veto to excise funding for the Legislature over the next two years. In effect, he said, if it’s good for the goose, it’s good for the gander.

Having been hoisted on their own petard, Republicans are now crying foul. The governor says he’d like the Republicans to sit down and renegotiate some of the worst provisions in the tax bill and other bills before restoring funds for the Legislature. Republicans say they aren’t interested, and are threatening a lawsuit instead.

GOP leaders say they’re confident that eliminating funding for another branch of government is a violation of the constitution— something they might have thought about before doing exactly that themselves. Regardless, the GOP’s case may not be as strong as they seem to think, and that argues for a political settlement rather than a legal one.

There appears to be no question that, under the constitution, the governor has the right to line-item veto any state appropriation. Article IV, Sec. 23 includes the following:

“If a bill presented to the governor contains several items of appropriation of money, he may veto one or more of the items while approving the bill. At the time he signs the bill the governor shall append to it a statement of the items he vetoes and the vetoed items shall not take effect. If the legislature is in session, he shall transmit to the house in which the bill originated a copy of the statement, and the items vetoed shall be separately reconsidered. If on reconsideration any item is approved by two-thirds of the members elected to each house, it is a part of the law notwithstanding the objections of the governor.”

Note that the constitution does not limit the governor’s authority to veto an appropriation in any way.

Republicans point to a separate portion of the constitution, Article III, Sec. 1, which establishes the three branches of government, and which states:

“No person or persons belonging to or constituting one of these departments shall exercise any of the powers properly belonging to either of the others except in the instances expressly provided in this constitution.”

Presumably they would argue that by vetoing their funding, Gov. Dayton has undermined the separation of powers. Yet the governor has not usurped the Legislature’s authority, which exists constitutionally whether they have funding or not. Dayton has simply exercised his own clearly-delineated authority to line-item veto any state appropriation.

Were the situation unresolvable, the courts would be the logical place to hear this dispute and render a solution. But that’s not the case. This is a political dispute, and it’s one that makes a compelling case for better governance. Republicans got themselves in trouble by trying to pull a fast one, and the governor responded in kind. In the future, the Legislature should avoid last minute poison pill provisions that hold state workers hostage over policy disputes. They should also avoid the end-of-session log jam where heaps of legislative trash get tossed into huge omnibus bills, forcing legislators and governors to support or sign the bad stuff along with the good.

Had the Legislature passed its own funding bill as a separate item earlier in the session, Gov. Dayton almost certainly would have signed it. If he hadn’t, the Legislature would have had the opportunity to override the veto, as the constitution allows. Legislative leaders have only themselves to blame for the situation they face. They should call the governor today and agree to talk it out.