jessemortenson's blog

As the Star Tribune reports, at least part of Gov. Pawlenty's unallotment of funds - the unilateral action he took to cut $2.7 billion in spending - was struck down by the state supreme court today. Does this open the door to another round of budget maneuvers in the final weeks of the current session?

That article states that it is "not immediately clear whether the ruling affects all of the $2.7 billion in cuts Pawlenty imposed last summer, or if it is narrowly focused on the tiny nutrition program for the poor that served as the genesis for the case." I'm not a lawyer, but having read the majority opinion issued by the court (PDF), it certainly seems like the court would find all $2.7 billion to be unlawful. In my reading, Cheif Justice Magnuson concludes that unallotment can only lawfully occur sometime after a balanced budget has been established for a biennium. It can't be used by the Governor before a biennium starts to unilaterally legislate a state budget. That argument applies to the whole of the $2.7 billion unallotment, not any specific program that was affected.

This ruling appears to take budget-setting-by-unallotment out of the Governor's toolbox. It's a great ruling for those affected by the unilateral budget cuts: cities, the poor, hospitals, campaign finance supporters and more. It is no longer a forgone conclusion that Pawlenty can dictate whatever depth of budget cuts he wants. Now we need to push the legislature to get a revenue bill passed that raises taxes, and force the Governor into a special session if need be.

UPDATE: Coverage from MinnPost. I expect Eric Black will have some interesting commentary as this develops.

Instant Runoff Voting was approved for future use in city elections by St. Paul voters 52.45% to 47.55%. That makes the Twin Cities united in election reform: using a more democratic method to elect city officials and raising the profile of Instant Runoff as a possible solution to "wasted vote" problems with state elections.

The confidence of the slim St. Paul majority was vindicated by the smooth operation of the new method in Minneapolis. News outlets such as the Star Tribune reported that voters showed a solid understanding of Instant Runoff and that the method caused no unusual errors or delays in the election. Even though a hand count was required to produce official results, it was finished in "a quarter of the scheduled time" according to FairVote MN director Jeanne Massey.

The smooth operation of IRV in Minneapolis amounts to the second victory for election reform proponents in this month's election. With the 2010 race for the governor's chair coming into increasing focus, the issues of the plurality winner and "wasted" votes will also come into focus. Minnesota has elected a governor three times in a row who received less than 50% of the vote. Instant Runoff voting would solve this problem. Now that it has been used successfully in Minnesota and a second major city has adopted it, isn't it time for the legislature to seriously consider using IRV for state elections?

The progress of IRV is a great example of a truly grassroots-led, multi-partisan reform campaign. Evolving from a small study group and supported by rank-and-file activists (mostly Greens, independents and progressive DFLers) into a major campaign with the ability to mobilize broad support was a 15 year process. Third party campaigns spurred the issues into higher profile since Ventura in 1998 and Nader in 2000. The persistence of principled volunteers in and around FairVote Minnesota is really inspiring, and it's starting to pay off.

Minneapolis enjoys a number of competitive city council and park board races this fall. Minneapolis voters also have the chance to weigh in on ballot question that will impact the shape of city government for years to come. Plus, for the first time in almost a century of Minnesota history, they will use ranked choice voting to make these choices.

MetroWatchdog does not endorse candidates, but we encourage you to participate in the local elections which shape our neighborhoods so directly. The following is  compiliationfo good information on Minneapolis candidates and questions and voting.


Not sure how Ranked Choice Voting, or Instant Runoff Voting works? The Vote Minneapolis page contains information for you.  Ranked Choice Voting means there is more likely to be a candidate in the general election that you like - and you can vote for a lesser-known candidate without worrying that you will "spoil" the election.

Official candidate filings: City of Minneapolis

City ward map: City of Minneapolis

The Twin Cities Daily Planet hosts a hub of Minneapolis elections articles.

Doug Grow profiled some non-RT candidates for mayor at MinnPost.

The Minnesota Independent covered each of the City Council ward races:

• Ward One
• Ward Two
• Ward Three
• Ward Four
• Ward Five
• Ward Six
• Ward Seven
• Ward Eight
• Ward Nine
• Ward Ten
• Ward Eleven
• Ward Twelve
• Ward Thirteen

The Truth to Tell radio program on KFAI featured a series of shows on Minneapolis elections.

A series of opinion pieces in the Star Tribune gave voice to perspectives on the ballot question that proposes to eliminate the Board of Estimate and Taxation:

• Don Fraser and Sharon Sayles-Belton say Vote NO.
• Jill Schwimmer says Vote YES.
• The Strib Editorial Board says Vote YES.

Maplewood city elections have a history of being well contested in recent years. Though MetroWatchdog does not endorse candidates, here are some sources of information on those in the running.

The Minnesota Independent has run a series of stories on Maplewood city elections.

The Maplewood Review featured a series of candidate profiles.

The Pioneer Press published a candidates profile.

Well, that's why we're still in beta, right?

After a couple of months of laying groundwork and starting to work on action alerts, the project has hit a bump in the road. The most recent wrinkle is that our first Watchdog, Rick Mantley, resigned in late September. This means we're a little short on momentum, and right before a local election! Not good!

The Editorial Board has decided to keep the project on hiatus for a little while.Our plan is to return to the project in mid-November and hire a new Watchdog by December 1.

In the meantime we encourage everyone to check out your local elections: there is probably a good candidate running a door-to-door campaign who needs your help. Some links to help: Minneapolis, St. Paul & Ramsey County, and state-wide local candidate filings.

If you are a St. Paul voter, we encourage you to vote YES for Instant Runoff Voting on November 3. Learn more at the St. Paul Better Ballot Campaign.