(St.Paul, MN) -- The Minnesota Supreme Court has ruled against Governor Pawlenty in a challenge by a group of citizens to his authority to trim the budget himself. The high court says because the governor and legislature never enacted a balanced budget for 2010 and 2011, the governor's use of unallotment to address the unresolved deficit exceeded the authority granted to the executive branch by the statute. The case before the high court dealt with only a small portion of the budget -- a nutrition program -- but some analysts conclude it could invalidate all the budget-cutting the governor did last summer, adding an additional two-point-seven billion dollars onto the deficit. House and Senate leaders apparently have not yet determined whether or not that is the case and are studying the ruling.
