GOP Warns Legislature Could Run Out Of Money

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A report filed by attorneys for the Republican-led Legislature says lawmakers will have to start furloughing employees in December and shut down completely by February unless there’s a resolution to a legal battle with Gov. Mark Dayton over its operating budget.

Top Republicans and the DFL governor have been locked in a legal battle for months over Dayton’s decision to veto the Legislature’s operating budget after the session concluded in late May. A lower court ruled that move unconstitutional, but the Minnesota Supreme ordered the two sides into mediation.

The Star Tribune says the report notes that if Dayton’s veto is not overturned and legislative funding restored, the Senate will run out of money on Dec. 1 and the House on Feb. 1, 2018. Dayton and his attorneys dispute some of the Legislature’s calculations.