The Minnesota Supreme Court on Friday upheld Governor Mark Dayton’s vetoes of the legislature’s operating funds as he tries to get Republicans to cancel several tax breaks — but Hamline University Professor David Schultz says the high court’s ruling doesn’t necessarily mean the governor wins. Schultz says, “What if… the Republicans say, fine, we’re just not gonna meet next year? We’re gonna show up on the first day of the session, adjourn sine die and we’re not gonna come back for the rest of the year.” Schultz says that would mean lawmakers wouldn’t consider a bonding bill or any of the governor’s other initiatives during his last year in office, plus the tax cuts he wanted canceled would stay in place.
Schultz says what he thinks what is really going on is “essentially the court doesn’t want to decide the case and is hoping that, in the next several days to couple of months, the legislature and governor work this out.” Dayton cut off funding for the legislature, trying to force Republicans to rescind several just-enacted tax breaks plus controversial measures on immigrant drivers licenses and teacher licensing. Republicans sued Dayton and the funding cut-off was delayed until October 1st.