Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who has threatened vetoes right and left of legislation that doesn't agree with his point of view, issued his first veto of a major budget bill Tuesday.
In this case, he's right.
The Legislature sent to him a bloated capital projects bill of $334 million - bloated because it actually grew in conference committee rather than reflect compromise between the chambers. Conferees managed to take a $255 million House bill and a $285 million Senate bill and instead of a compromise $270 million bonding bill, they bloated it up to $334 million.
Pawlenty offered only $71 million, which may be a bit low, but lawmakers should have known that he would never accept a $334 million bill - and he didn't.
Major state bonding bills are something legislators take up in off-budget years, with the next capital bonding year in 2008. While they hash out a two-year budget, lawmakers also consider a small bonding bill to take of any emergency facility needs that won't wait until a major bonding year.
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The governor may have set himself up with his pledge to provide $37 million toward renovation and expansion of the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center, an item he promised last year but fell through the cracks. It's not an emergency, but it fulfills a political promise.
Still, that shouldn't open the door to a host of political pork requests that aren't emergencies and can wait. Even some local funding requests fall into that category and can wait a year. Perhaps the exception is the $2 million needed for Bemidji State University to acquire the old Bemidji High School property - an emergency since the vacant building has been a hazard waiting to happen for years and the community demands a resolution.
Tuesday's veto means the Legislature must start over, but this time it should confine itself to emergency spending. While Pawlenty will go to $135 million, compromise should be available at $200 million, which is lower than both previous Senate and House proposals. What we don't need is to let the issue lie unresolved until the session's 11th hour, to be used for political leverage in the global budget debate.
Then, as happened a few years ago, we could get nothing and even worthy emergency needs will go for naught.
THE BEMIDJI PIONEER
