Pawlenty proposal: Handcuff spending budget controls

The governor wants to amend the Constitution to take guesswork out of budgeting, but he met skepticism from DFLers.

By MIKE KASZUBA and BAIRD HELGESON, Star Tribune staff writers

Last update: November 5, 2009 - 10:51 PM

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Gov. Tim Pawlenty tried to seize the political high ground Thursday in his budget battle with DFLers by proposing a state constitutional amendment that would cap the state's general fund budget at the level of revenues from the latest two-year budget period.

While acknowledging that the details might be difficult to explain to voters, Pawlenty -- who is also courting conservatives nationally in a possible Republican presidential bid -- hoped to appeal to Minnesotans who have grown weary of increased spending and a budget process that relies heavily on tenuous economic forecasts to predict state revenues. "Basing legally-binding spending commitments on guesses about revenue is like building a house on shifting sand," Pawlenty said.

DFLers leaders questioned why Pawlenty was proposing such a major change as he enters his last year in office. One DFL gubernatorial candidate, former U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton, called the initiative the "Destroy Minnesota Amendment." DFL legislative leaders noted that Pawlenty's past budget proposals would not have met the test for his own amendment.

"At first blush, it does seem odd that on your way out the door, with a pending $5 [billion] to $7 billion deficit, you would now recommend something that you never even proposed to the Legislature," said Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller, of Minneapolis.

To show up on the ballot next November, Pawlenty's proposed amendment would first have to clear a high hurdle -- passage by a heavily DFL-controlled House and Senate.

But if the measure reached the ballot, historical odds would favor its passage. Since 1982, voters have opted for 17 of 18 constitutional amendments proposed; the lone exception was a proposal for off-track horse betting in 1994.

While Pawlenty's proposal would limit spending, Colorado voters adopted similar budget handcuffs in 1992, with a measure that restricted state and local tax collections. Colorado's amendment was adopted as the state entered a decade of dramatic growth, but its effect proved severe when the state plunged into recession in 2001. Once the state's economy rebounded in 2003, the law's limit on tax collections meant that government leaders could not restore money to programs that had been cut. State leaders have since approved a budget compromise that called for a five-year break from the taxing restrictions to retool the program.

It was unclear Thursday how far the proposed amendment would get or how much political capital Pawlenty -- who starts this year as a lame duck -- would expend lobbying for it. Senate Taxes Chairman Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, also a gubernatorial candidate, said he would invite Pawlenty to testify at a December hearing. Rep. Paul Kohls, R-Victoria, who recently abandoned his own gubernatorial run, said he would carry the legislation in the House.

Pawlenty said that if his proposal had been in effect since 1960, general fund spending would have been reduced by more than $22 billion. More than 70 percent of state spending goes to education and health care.

DFLers said Pawlenty rarely practiced that level of fiscal restraint in his two terms. For the 2008-09 budget cycle, they said, Pawlenty proposed a $34.4 billion budget when projected revenues for the previous budget period were $32.2 billion.

Mike Kaszuba • 651-222-1673 Baird Helgeson • 651-222-1288

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Governor: Tim Pawlenty
One of only a few prominent Republicans to win a competitive re-election contest in the Democratic sweep of 2006, Tim Pawlenty is widely seen as politically shrewd and naturally likable.

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