Pawlenty 'willing to listen' on special session option

Gov. Pawlenty is refusing to slam the door shut on a special session to pass a reconfigured tax bill. But he said he's doubtful the Legislature can pull off a quick meeting.

The Republican governor left many Capitol players craving a special session by vetoing a wide-ranging tax bill this week.

The bill would have boosted local government allowances, provided immediate help for fire victims in northern Minnesota, finetuned the corporate tax code and subsized two large business expansions -- one for Thomson West publishing, and one for the Mall of America.

During his weekly radio show Friday, Pawlenty stressed that he is "not inclined" to bring legislators back.

"The governor is using weapons of math destruction."

Pawlenty said he would demand a prior agreement on the agenda and want assurances that the session last only a day.

Governors have sole power to call lawmakers into a special session, but the Legislature isn't bound by any time limit once they return to work.

The next regular session begins Feb. 12.

Pawlenty also said critics of his veto shouldn't blame him, but rather the DFL legislative leaders.

Pawlenty said he warned DFL legislative leaders that they should not include a provision that would have required finance officials to factor inflation into future budget forecasts.

Several city and county officials say without the funding in the bill, they will be forced to increase property taxes.

"If they're going to be complaining about local government aid not going up or staying at this year's level, they knew that was a consequence of this bill," said Pawlenty. "I want to make sure that everybody concerned about aspects of this bill refers their concerns to the people who made that choice. They knew what the outcome was going to be."

DFL legislative leaders say they are disappointed with Pawlenty's veto, and think he's putting his political interests in front of the best interests of the state.

Prior to a 2002 law change, finance officials considered the year-to-year rise in program costs when determining whether the state had a deficit or surplus. Forecasters now build inflation into revenue projections, but ignore it on the spending side.

Pawlenty argued that baking across-the-board inflation into the forecast leaves the impression that every program should get more funding. Democrats argue the governor's argument is flawed because lawmakers are required to sign off on increases in spending.

Rep. Tom Rukavina, DFL-Virginia, continued to hammer away at that point Friday, challenging Pawlenty to a one-on-one debate over the topic.

"The governor is using weapons of math destruction. He's using his own new math accounting procedures," Rukavina said. "I don't think he could pass Accounting 101 using this principle."

Pawlenty wouldn't take the Rukavina bait. "We are always interested in his perspective," he said.

Unlike most spending areas of the state budget, the state can head into a new fiscal year without passing a new tax law. Old tax policies continue until changed.

The lack of a bill means aid checks to city, county and township governments will remain static, wiping out $93 million in additional funding approved by the Legislature.

Tax breaks sought by the Mall of American and publisher Thomson West for building expansions won't occur. And the state couldn't come through with a $39 million financial guarantee promised to planners of the 2008 Republican National Convention.

Pawlenty said Republican convention officials "are willing to give us some breathing room on that issue."

A convention contract included the expectation that the financial backup would be in place by Aug. 1 and available to tap if fundraising fell short of goals.

House Minority Leader Marty Seifert, R-Marshall, said he'd be surprised if convention organizers made much out of the unfulfilled commitment.

"It would be foolish for the Republican National Convention team to punish a principled governor for taking a stand," he said.

With this week's actions, the 2008-09 budget is complete. It will total $34.5 billion, about 9.6 percent more than the present two-year budget.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report)

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