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Tom Scheck
St. Paul, Minn.

Pawlenty defends budget-cutting authority

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Gov. Tim Pawlenty says he thinks he's within his legal authority to balance the state's two-year budget on his own through a process known as unallotment.

A lawsuit was filed this week in Ramsey County District Court that aims to reverse some of the Republican governor's budget cuts. The suit comes several months after another legal challenge to Pawlenty's decision to cut the political contribution refund.

For his part, Pawlenty said he believes he'll win in court.

"That's not the first unallotment lawsuit that's been filed and probably won't be the last. But we feel very confident in our legal position as it relates to unallotment, and I'm sure it will all get sorted out by the courts in a way that will sustain the unallotment," said Pawlenty.

Pawlenty decided to unilaterally cut $2.7 billion from the state's budget after he failed to reach an agreement with the DFL-controlled Legislature.