A powerful Minnesota House panel voted Tuesday to add its voice to the now-crowded Ramsey County shutdown court hearing on Thursday.

The House will ask the court to make sure it has access to its funds in the bank if government shuts down next month and ask the court not to appoint a mediator in the budget dispute, said House Majority Leader Matt Dean, R-Dellwood. DFL Gov. Mark Dayton asked to the Ramsey County court to assign a mediator to the negotiation.

Dean said the House would hire former Supreme Court Justice Eric Magnuson to represent its interests. (The choice will limit Magnuson should the case move on to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court adopted a rule in March that would bar former Justices from appearing before the court in any way for three years after their tenure.)

Update: House spokeswoman Jodi Boyne said, "This case would go before the district court, not the supreme court. Our focus remains on getting a budget completed by June 30."

Dean did not have Magnuson's contract with him at the rules committee but House staff said they would provide it to the media. We will update this post once we have it. Update: Boyne said, "The House is currently negotiating the terms with Mr. Magnuson. Therefore it is still in the process of hiring him."

The House is one of multiple parties intervening in the shutdown lawsuit, which the Attorney General started last week to make sure essential services are funded on July 1 and beyond even if lawmakers and the governor do not agree on a budget.

Gov. Mark Dayton also petitioned the court, as did health care services, four GOP Senators and the judicial branch. A Minnesota Senate panel last week approved a resolution that would allow intervention but has not done so yet, nor has the Senate released the shape their intervention may take. City officials have also said they plan to get involved in the litigation.