On June 13th, the Minnesota Legislature filed a lawsuit against Gov. Dayton after he took unprecedented action and line item vetoed all funding for the Legislature for the next two years. Later in the month, a Ramsey County judge ordered the state to continue funding the Legislature through Oct. 1 according to the Star Tribune.
Dayton stated that his reasons for vetoing funding were to force lawmakers back to the table to redo several agreements that he had already signed. Two significant victories for NFIB are involved in this dispute: the repeal of the inflator on the state general tax and increasing the threshold for the estate tax exemption by $1 million.
House Speaker Kurt Daudt applauded the court’s decision.
“We remain confident that the governor’s actions will be found unconstitutional and hope for a swift resolution to the legal process,” Daudt said according to the Star Tribune.
The Legislature will continue to be funded at the current level, around $5.3 million per month. Experts expect that both sides will appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court if they lose the lower ruling.