While Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was trying to get California voters to approve tax increases, Governor Tim Pawlenty has prevented them in Minnesota. His veto of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor legislature’s tax increase was sustained, at which point he used line-item veto and “unallotment” powers to balance the two-year budget. The story is told by Pawlenty fan John Hinderaker on the Power Line blog. Pawlenty has been mentioned as a possible presidential candidate. This brilliant stroke will undoubtedly make him more attractive to Republican voters and quite possibly to voters generally.
Schwarzenegger, I suspect, does not have the same powers under the California Constitution that Pawlenty has under Minnesota’s. Nonetheless, Pawlenty’s victory suggests there was another budget strategy Schwarzenegger might have followed with more success than the one he did: just say no to the Democratic legislature.
