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Capitol View®
Tim Pugmire

Judge hears arguments on state Senate office lawsuit

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The lawyer for a former Republican state legislator urged a judge on Wednesday to block construction of a new legislative office building on constitutional grounds.

Former Rep. Jim Knoblach contends lawmakers violated the state constitution last year when they approved financing for the building as part of a larger tax bill.

The legislation was a “glaring violation of the single-subject clause," which demands that legislators vote separately on unrelated topics, Knoblach's attorney Erick Kaardal told a Ramsey County judge.

State officials should be required to pay back the money they've already spent on the building's design, Kaardal added.

A lawyer representing the state called for a dismissal.

Assistant Attorney General John Garry argued that Knoblach does not have proper standing to bring the lawsuit and he also questioned its timing. “This was not filed until five months after the legislation was signed,” Garry said.

Judge Lezlie Marek took the matter under advisement and promised a quick ruling.

After the hearing, Knoblach said he took exception to the state’s argument about his standing. "If I as a citizen don’t have the standing, who could possibly bring a lawsuit to try to stop something like this,” Knoblach said.

Knoblach and other critics of the project have characterized it as a last-minute addition to the tax bill by DFL Senate leaders. Sen. Ann Rest, DFL-New Hope, rejects such claims.

Rest, who chairs the Senate Tax Reform Division, said the office project was “on the table” for more than a year and that the provision was amended to the tax bill three weeks before its final passage.

“The notion that anytime you make an amendment to a bill that you’re trying to sneak something by somebody, that’s just absurd on its face,” Rest said.