Judge Kathleen Gearin, chief judge of the Ramsey County District, has granted a temporary restraining order, retroactive to Nov. 1, preventing one piece Gov. Tim Pawlenty's use of his unallotment powers. Specifically, she is restoring the funds unallotted from a state program that subsidizes Minnesotans with special health-related dietary needs. Pawlenty unalloted that program in its entirety. The judge's order un-unallots it. But the logic of her order affects the entire $2.7 billion unallotment that Pawlenty ordered at the end of the 2009 legislative session and seems to invite other plaintiffs to come forward seeking reinstatement of all of the appropriations that Pawlenty unallotted.
Hoorah!--that's a big "FUCK YOU!" To Governor Wonder Bread. Pawlenty, in an attempt to burnish his image with the wingnuts as a fiscal Scrooge, had previously screwed thousand of Minnesotans dependent on state aid for medical and dietary assistance. With this ruling, his hands are tied, and the rest of his cold-hearted budget cuts can begin to be erased, too!
Pawlenty's underhanded and callous decision won't be forgotten, I promise you. And thank you, Judge Gearin!!
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1 comment:
The reason that they did it wasn't to protect the poor, unfortunately, it was because the unallotment process is supposed to be a last minute budget fix in the event of gridlock, not a tool to stick it to the legislature. They're definitely fearing more appeals of other unallotments.
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