/usr/web/www.marshallindependent.com/wp-content/themes/coreV2/single.php
×

It’s a matter of checks and balances for justices

The Minnesota Supreme Court began hearing oral arguments Monday on an important question dealing with checks and balances in government and the separation of powers. Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton’s attorneys will be arguing that he had the power to line-item veto the Legislature’s funding after the last session. Legislative representatives will argue that it was an unconstitutional power grab.

It all goes back to the end of the last legislative session, after the Republican-led Legislature and the Democratic governor hammered out a special session deal on budget and taxation bills. Republicans had stuck a measure into one bill that would defund the Department of Revenue if Dayton didn’t sign the tax bill he had agreed to. Dayton, who has misgivings about tax cuts in the tax bill, signed it, but vetoed the funds for the Legislature, effectively putting legislators out of business unless they renegotiated the tax bill.

Legislators filed a suit, and a Ramsey County district judge ruled against the governor, who appealed to the Supreme Court.

It seems obvious to us that the checks and balances built into our state government system are thrown out of whack if the governor can withhold funds for a Legislature that won’t do his bidding. The governor has a job to do, and the Legislature has a job to do. They are both important jobs, and each needs to be free to do it without undue pressure and coercion from the other.

The Judiciary is the third facet of our governmental checks and balances. We hope our Minnesota Supreme Court will do its important job and affirm the boundaries that Gov. Dayton so obviously crossed.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

COMMENTS

[vivafbcomment]

Starting at $4.38/week.

Subscribe Today