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May 15, 2009 6:59 am US/Central
Pawlenty Says He Will Balance Budget On His Own
ST. PAUL (AP) ―
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Gov. Tim Pawlenty also nixed six smaller items in an economic development bill, ranging from $1.2 million to bring film productions to the state to $280,000 to help Minnesota Public Radio convert its signal to digital. (File)
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Gov. Tim Pawlenty promised Thursday to bring Minnesota's deficit-ridden budget back into balance on his own if the session ends Monday without an accord, using line-item vetoes and executive powers to shave billions in spending.
"There will be no special session. There will be no government shutdown," Pawlenty said at a news conference flanked by fellow Republicans, who vowed to uphold any vetoes.
Pawlenty held out the possibility of a negotiated agreement, but said he was prepared to use vetoes, payment suspensions and so-called unallotment to cut the two-year budget to $31 billion. That's about $3 billion smaller than the slate of spending bills sent to him.
The move infuriated Democrats who run the Legislature. House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher of Minneapolis dubbed Pawlenty "Governor Go It Alone." Pawlenty shot back that without the step Kelliher would be "Speaker Special Session."
"There will be no public hearings. There will be no public input. There will just be a governor alone with unelected people whispering in his ear of what to cut and what not to cut," Kelliher said, calling it "bullying."
The consequences could be severe.
Within hours of his announcement, Pawlenty took his veto pen to a health and welfare package, eliminating the General Assistance Medical Care program for about 30,000 low-income, childless adults starting in mid-2010. The move would reduce state spending by $381 million and goes after an area he has long targeted for cuts.
The governor also trimmed six smaller items totaling $1.8 million from an economic development bill, ranging from $1.2 million to bring film productions to the state to $280,000 for Minnesota Public Radio to convert its signal to digital.
He indicated earlier that health and welfare programs for poor and disabled Minnesotans, colleges and local governments dependent on state aid would face the deepest cuts. He would also consider delaying payments bound for schools.
Pawlenty plans to sign the remaining budget bills sent to him and work backward. He is withholding details of specific cuts for the bills he has yet to sign. He is due to act on a public safety bill Friday and spending for K-12 schools, colleges and universities and state agencies by Saturday.
Health groups and those who use state services have been worried about deeper cuts than the ones approved by lawmakers. Rep. Tom Huntley, a Democrat from Duluth, said hospitals will end up eating the cost of treating the very low-income patients now covered by General Assistance Medical Care, further straining the health care system.
"It will lead to more layoffs. It will lead to more closing of hospitals," Huntley said.
Pawlenty spokesman Brian McClung said as many as half of the adults on the GAMC program could qualify for MinnesotaCare, another state program for the working poor.
Others with a stake in the budget outcome are also concerned.
Wadena Mayor Wayne Wolden sent a letter to all 201 legislators urging them to strike a deal to head off the chance Pawlenty would go after aid to local governments. Hundreds of millions of dollars in state aid for cities and counties are at risk, Wolden said. He is president of the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities, which has 78 members.
"The real losers in this failure to compromise are property taxpayers and Minnesota families who depend on critical services like police and fire protection," Wolden said after Pawlenty's announcement.
Eliot Seide, the head of AFSCME Council 5, the largest union representing state workers, predicted job losses.
"We just saw the suspension of democracy today," he said. "Unallotment is a job killer."
Minnesota faces a projected shortfall of $4.6 billion over the next two years, a problem that would be worse if not for federal stimulus dollars.
Pawlenty said his administration had been working on the contingency plan for some time but didn't think he would need to employ it. Talks between he and legislative leaders have sputtered, mainly over how to find at least $1 billion in new revenue.
Pawlenty had proposed borrowing against future tobacco settlement payments, but Democrats and many Republicans balked because it would cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars more to repay the bonds.
The governor wouldn't budge on his opposition to taxes and vetoed a plan reliant on alcohol taxes, credit card company surcharges and new income taxes on the highest-paid Minnesotans.
Democrats haven't ruled out putting the tax-bill veto to an override. But they need to attract support from at least three House Republicans to prevail -- something Pawlenty and GOP leaders said they were certain wouldn't happen.
House Minority Leader Marty Seifert, R-Marshall, said Pawlenty's backup plan can be avoided if the sides get back to the bargaining table.
"The door is open and the phone is on if the Democrats are interested in working on a balanced budget," Seifert said.
The breakdown in communication between the governor and Democrats showed at a public meeting of the Legislative Commission on Planning and Fiscal Policy. Kelliher and other DFL leaders suspended the hearing shortly before Pawlenty's afternoon news conference, complaining that they weren't briefed on his plans.
Later, he declined to appear before the group to offer details but told them he is open for private talks.
"How do you discuss something with someone who already made up his mind in January of what he wanted to do?" said House Majority Leader Tony Sertich, DFL-Chisholm.
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Lawmakers managed to narrowly avoid a special session drafting the budget last year.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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