Press Release: Susan Gaertner Statement on Pawlenty Unallotments
Statement of Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner
DFL candidate for governor calls on Pawlenty to engage in a meaningful and sincere debate
(St. Paul,MN) Today’s action by Governor Pawlenty, laying the ground work to unilaterally unallot billions of dollars previously dedicated to address the human, social and environmental needs of Minnesotans, is clearly a seminal moment in our state’s history.
Indeed, it is a sad day when Minnesota’s representative government cannot work together to solve one of the most pressing economic and fiscal disasters our state has ever faced.
For anyone to call the governor’s action “strong leadership” would belie the essential meaning of good government and principled service to its constituents.
Clearly, these are difficult times that require difficult decisions, but those decisions are best made after a meaningful debate and within a spirit of compromise. The process we have witnessed was neither.
Today, I call on Governor Pawlenty to remain open to a truly democratic process and call for a special session. That session must be a respectful process that includes the possibility of multiple options and have the intention of putting our state back on track and easing the considerable pain that the unallotment process will surely bring.
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