Bills are still making their way to Pawlenty

Slow transmittal of major bills from the Legislature to the governor gives him more time to stew over their fate.

By Conrad Defiebre, Star Tribune

Last update: May 23, 2007 - 10:04 PM

Still waiting for a chance to consider whether to sign or veto major budget and tax bills passed in the final hours of the legislative session Monday, Gov. Tim Pawlenty signed several smaller measures Wednesday, including $2 million in flood relief for Browns Valley.

Also signed into law was a process and timeline for divesting state pension funds from companies with active business operations in Sudan on grounds of ongoing genocide in its Darfur region.

The State Board of Investment will be required to sell off all stock in such firms within 18 months. The state could reinvest in Sudanese enterprises if the federal government revoked its sanctions against Sudan or determined that genocide there had been halted for at least a year.

Meanwhile, the wait could extend into next week for Pawlenty's decisions on spending for schools, nursing homes, health care and state agencies, plus property tax relief, more local government aid and higher taxes for some businesses.

That's because the Legislature's bill technicians haven't yet sent Pawlenty the measures covering those areas. Delivery of the bills will trigger a three-day window for Pawlenty to sign or veto them.

State government and health and human services finance bills are expected to arrive today, said Pawlenty spokesman Brian McClung, giving the governor until midnight Monday to act on them. No action by then would put them into law without his signature.

Higher education and public school finance bills, plus a tax bill that Pawlenty said he may veto, won't reach the governor's desk until Tuesday, McClung said. His deadline for action on those bills would then be midnight Friday, June 1.

The tax bill contains many items Pawlenty supports, including tax breaks for expansions of the Mall of America in Bloomington and Thomson West Publishing in Eagan, a $39 million state guarantee for costs of the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul and tighter tax rules for firms with foreign operations.

But Pawlenty opposes a section that returns projected inflation to the state's official budget forecasts. To eliminate it, he would have to veto the entire bill, because line-item vetoes are allowed only for spending provisions, not policy. He warned legislators before the bill was approved that the inflation provision could bring down the whole measure.

In the quiet and mostly deserted State Capitol on Wednesday, Pawlenty took one other official step: authorizing a Minnesota National Guard award that would recognize outstanding performance of members on active duty within the state. The Minnesota Achievement Ribbon could be bestowed for service such as flood or forest fire disaster relief.

Conrad deFiebre • 651-222-1673 • cdefiebre@startribune.com