On Wednesday, a Judge says Dayton wrong when he 'effectively abolished the Legislature,' ruling that a line-item veto of funding for the Minnesota House and Senate violated the state constitution. We agree, and would rather have seen the governor veto bills he didn't like to bring legislative leaders back to the table.
The "they started it first" with a poison pill defunding the Department of Revenue puts both sides in schoolyard mumblety-peg territory.
But there's more to the story of funding the legislature, related to our earlier post, MN Speaker Daudt doesn't like state constitution as much as Senate Majority Leader Gazelka does.
David Montgomery of the St. Pioneer Press reports in Minnesota lawmakers file suit for pay raises:
Two state lawmakers say House Speaker Kurt Daudt is violating the state constitution by not approving higher salaries for the House of Representatives, and want a judge to order the pay hikes.
State Rep. Rena Moran, DFL-St. Paul, and Marion O’Neill, R-Maple Lake, filed the lawsuit Thursday, one day after a similar lawsuit from an outside group was dismissed because none of its members were directly affected by the issue. The same attorney, Erick Kaardal, is involved in both lawsuits. . . .
Daudt says he didn’t have the votes in the House of Representatives to approve a “politically sensitive” pay increase. That’s part of the reason lawmaker pay has stayed the same for nearly 20 years — wanting to avoid a backlash from voters, legislators found it easier to keep their pay the same.
“I think it would be great for the courts to tell us and make the decision: Is this constitutional, are we required to do this?” Daudt said Wednesday. “If they say that, members will get the pay increase.”
In their lawsuit, Moran and O’Neill say Daudt is “obligated to pay the constitutionally-prescribed salaries” and that they’re “specifically injured” by his directive to keep the old pay level.
Kaardal is a well-known conservative activist, as we noted in our earlier post.
Last spring, Daudt had been scolded by newspapers across the state for his stance, we reported in Greater Minnesota newspaper editors call out Speaker Daudt on #mnleg pay raise politicking.
These silly games waste time and money, as well as violating the direct will of voters at the ballot box. Here's hoping judges agree with the courageous lawmakers.
Photo: Marion O'Neill (left) and Rena Moran (right).
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