Left: "Anatomy of Unallotment" poster, thumbnail (download 11" x 17" version, MS Word document)
Right: Carney for Governor "viral campaign card", front & back, version for distribution to the Legislature

 

News Release: Moderate Progressive Republican candidate for Governor Bob Carney Jr. proposes a "TAX and VETO CAP" Constitutional Amendment -- "'We the People' of Minnesota should limit vetoes and control taxing directly -- not the Big Money and Special Interest politicians"

 

Note: the on-line version of this news release is revised and edited from the one sent 1/27/10; the name has been changed from the TAX CAP Amendment to the TAX and VETO CAP Amendment

 

Carney's proposed amendment is designed to preserve the Legislature's power, authority, and accountability -- it also greatly restricts the Governor's veto power if the Legislature "comes in at or under budget"

 

Contact: Bob Carney Jr. -- (612)-824-4479 (home and business) -- bob@republicancontract.com

 

For immediate release                                                                              

 

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Minneapolis, MN, January 27, 2010 (now revised and edited) -- Minneapolis Moderate Progressive Republican candidate for Governor Bob Carney Jr. proposed a "TAX and VETO CAP" Constitutional amendment today. 

 

"Every two years, voters can set the TAX and VETO CAP -- choosing what percent above or below inflation 'We the People' will accept as an upper limit on taxing and spending.  The Legislature can tax and spend up to what a majority of voters agree on as the cap -- and can only tax and spend more by a two thirds vote of both houses.  I think this is the kind of reform that Minnesota's own Congressman Charles Lindbergh Sr., Wisconson's Robert LaFollette, and other reform minded Republicans active in the Progressive movement of the early 1900's will smile on," Carney said.

 

Carney's Amendment is also designed to preserve the Legislature's power, authority, and accountability, and to greatly restrict the Governor's veto power if the Legislature stays at or below the TAX and VETO CAP.

 

"I am e-mailing this news release to almost all members of the Legislature.  I will be recruiting sponsors in each house, and calling for hearings," Carney said.

 

Governor Pawlenty has proposed a Constitutional amendment, as described in a 10/5/09 news release from the Governor's office, to "cap the state general fund budget at the level of revenue actually received during the previous budget period.

"Governor Pawlenty's proposed Amendment appears to reduce the highly polarizing direct confrontation that has been going on between the Governor and the Legislature -- at least with respect to a limit on spending.  That's a good thing.  However, the Governor's proposal puts our State's budget in a lock-box with a two year timer. My Citizen-powered, ballot-powered TAX and VETO CAP Amendment works faster and is more flexible," Carney said.

"With the TAX and VETO CAP, the Legislature is front and center in the picture... and also left and right... -- but 'We the Citizens' of Minnesota frame that picture.  'We the People' of Minnesota should restrict vetoes and control taxing directly -- not the Big Money and Special Interest politicians," Carney said.

The "TAX and VETO CAP" Amendment

Carney's TAX and VETO CAP Amendment is designed to empower "We the People", and to help Legislators and the Governor to work together. A draft of the exact changes in the Constitution follows this news release. The TAX and VETO CAP Amendment has five main features:

First -- Every two years "We The People" will set the TAX and VETO CAP -- as a percent above or below inflation.

Second -- Two weeks before the end of session, the Legislature must present the Governor with a complete budget for review. The Governor's veto power cannot be used under any circumstances before everything is "on the table".

Third -- If the Legislature goes over the TAX and VETO CAP, the Governor is required to veto some combination of revenue and spending bills and line items to effect a balanced budget at or under the citizen-approved TAX and VETO CAP.

Fourth -- The Legislature has a strong incentive to stay within the budget: If the Legislature puts together a balanced budget at or below the TAX and VETO CAP, the Governor cannot veto any revenue bill, and can veto line items and/or spending bills totaling no more than one percent of all spending.

Fifth -- If a balanced budget can't be agreed to, or if a budget becomes unbalanced later, the Governor can call a special session -- deliberately redesigned to switch from the "carrot" to the "stick". The Legislator has three weeks to either balance the budget or face this consequence: all Legislators would become ineligible for any elective office at the next General Election; however, a further special session could make them re-eligible. If the Legislature fails to balance the budget, an equal percentage reduction applies to everything except interest on debt. Unallotment is explicitly made unconstitutional.

"In general, the TAX and VETO CAP Amendment is designed to preserve the power, authority, and accountability of the Legislature, The Governor is pointed towards helping the Legislature to deliberate cooperatively and effectively -- and towards impartial and efficient administration.  That's what we want from a Governor," Carney said.

The same question every two years; voting and counting

The TAX and VETO CAP ballot question posed to Citizens of Minnesota on every General Election ballot is:

For the next two years, what maximum annual percent above, equal to, or below inflation do you want as the TAX and VETO CAP?  This cap restrains both state taxes and the Governor's use of the veto:

            ( ) 5% above inflation
            ( ) 4% above inflation
            ( ) 3% above inflation
            ( ) 2% above inflation
            ( ) 1% above inflation
            ( ) equal to inflation
            ( ) 1% below inflation
            ( ) 2% below inflation
            ( ) 3% below inflation

"To count this, a running total will be started, from the highest percentage above inflation. The total would continue down, one percent at a time, until the running total of votes is a majority of the total of votes cast. That becomes the TAX and VETO CAP for the next two years," Carney said.

Governor Pawlenty's budget legacy (excluding unallotment)

"Right or wrong, Governor Pawlenty's legacy will be that he slowed the rate of growth of State spending to 2% a year during his two terms -- half a point below inflation," Carney said. "Governor Pawlenty's proposed Constitutional amendment has a positive feature -- it puts the Legislature in a less confrontational posture towards the Governor. The Legislature's spending would be restrained not by vetoes of spending bills, but by a kind of slow-moving lock box, designed to require two years of lead time before spending could increase. However, the Governor would likely still have a confrontational role due to the veto power over revenue increases," Carney said.

Governor Pawlenty's tenure has been unusually polarizing. Dane Smith reported in a 2006 Star Tribune article: "A study of poll data by Gary Jacobson, a political scientist at the University of California, San Diego, found that Pawlenty was the most polarizing governor in the country, with a gap of 53 percentage points in approval between Republicans and DFLers."  This is part of a larger trend: according the Sam Stein's 1/25/10 article in the Huffington Post, "Over the course of this past year, Obama has averaged a job approval rating of 88 percent among Democrats and just 23 percent among Republicans, according to the study released on Monday morning. That year-one 65-point margin is the largest that the public opinion research firm has ever recorded."

 

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Below is a draft showing an exact implementation of Carney's proposed TAX and VETO CAP Constitutional Amendment, as additions and strikeouts.  Further study is needed, and the draft is likely to change.

 

The on-line version of this news release will have the current revision date, this one is: 2/12/10
 

 

 

The TAX and VETO CAP Amendment:

 

By: Bob Carney Jr. Moderate Progressive Republican candidate for Governor

Revised 2/12/10

ARTICLE III
DISTRIBUTION OF THE POWERS OF GOVERNMENT

Section 2. UNALLOTMENT IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL -- The process known as unallotment, as understood with reference to historical statutes enacted by the Minnesota Legislature, is a violation of the DIVISION OF POWERS, and is unconstitutional.
 

ARTICLE IV
LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT

Sec. 12. BIENNIAL MEETINGS; LENGTH OF SESSION; SPECIAL SESSIONS; LENGTH OF ADJOURNMENTS. The legislature shall meet at the seat of government in regular session in each biennium at the times prescribed by law for not exceeding a total of 120 legislative days. The legislature shall not meet in regular session, nor in any adjournment thereof, after the first Monday following the third Saturday in May of any year. After meeting at a time prescribed by law, the legislature may adjourn to another time. "Legislative day" shall be defined by law. A special session of the legislature may be called by the governor with a minimum of one week's notice to the Legislature. on extraordinary occasions. A special session shall last twenty two days, including the day of adjournment. During the first week the Legislature may adjourn for up to one day; during the final two weeks, the Legislature may adjourn for up to six days each week. Prior to convening a special session the following shall be done in a manner prescribed by law: a revised inflation rate shall be determined for the current biennium; all actual and projected expenses and revenues shall be re-calculated; a revised BUDGET CAP shall be recalculated; and revised biennial total dollar amounts for spending and revenue shall be recalculated. If the result is a projected deficit, and if the Legislature fails to rebalance the budget, then, exempting interest on debt, the Governor shall within one month after adjournment reduce all spending for the remainder of the biennium by a uniform percentage calculated to balance the budget for the biennium including provision for a reserve sufficient to cover a 5% shortfall in projected revenues during the balance of the biennium, and all persons who have served in the Legislature during the current biennium shall be ineligible for election to any office at the next General Election. If a subsequent special session is called, and the Legislature rebalances the budget before the General Election filing period ends, all persons who became ineligible for election at the conclusion of a previous special session shall then be eligible for election.

Neither house during a regular session of the legislature shall adjourn for more than three days (Sundays excepted) nor to any other place than that in which the two houses shall be assembled without the consent of the other house.

Sec. 21. PASSAGE OF BILLS ON LAST DAY DURING THE FINAL TWO WEEKS OF A SESSION PROHIBITED. No bill shall be passed by either house during the final two weeks prior to upon the day prescribed for adjournment. This section shall not preclude the enrollment of a bill or its transmittal from one house to the other or to the executive for his signature.

Sec. 23, subd. a. DETERMINATION OF TAX AND VETO CAP FOR EACH BIENNIUM. At each biennial general election, a ballot question shall be put to the citizens: "What maximum annual percent above, equal to, or below inflation do you want as the TAX AND VETO CAP on State spending for the next two years? In the year 2010 the range of whole number percentages presented shall be from six points above inflation to four points below inflation. The votes for each number shall be totaled cumulatively from the highest number down, until that total is a majority of all voters, and that number shall then be the TAX AND VETO CAP for the 2012-13 biennium. For general elections after 2010, the range of whole number percentages presented to the voters shall be from four points below to four points above the current TAX AND VETO CAP. By the start of a Legislative session, in a manner prescribed by law, the inflation rate for the coming biennium shall be estimated to the nearest whole number percent. The TAX AND VETO CAP, the estimated inflation rate, and the total of received and projected revenue for the prior biennium shall then be used to calculate, as a dollar amount, the BUDGET CAP for the following biennium, or, if a biennium is in progress, a revision of the BUDGET CAP for the remainder of the current biennium. In an emergency situation the TAX AND VETO CAP and/or the BUDGET CAP may be increased or decreased at any time by a seventy five percent majority vote of all of the members of the House of Representatives.

Sec. 23., subd. b. APPROVAL OF BILLS BY GOVERNOR; LIMITATION OF VETO POWER; ACTION ON VETO. No bill shall be passed until its spending or revenue to be raised shall first have been quantified in a manner prescribed by law. Every bill passed in conformity to the rules of each house and the joint rules of the two houses shall be presented to the governor. As of two weeks before the day prescribed for adjournment, all spending and revenue bills passed during the session shall have been presented by the Legislature to the Governor, together with their associated spending and revenue provisions, the total of all quantified spending provisions and all quantified revenue provisions, and the current projected surplus or deficit for either the following biennium during an odd year regular session, or otherwise for the remainder of the current biennium.

If the budget as presented to the Governor is in balance and the total of all revenue is less than or equal to the BUDGET CAP, the Governor may not veto any revenue bill, and may veto only spending bills or line items totaling one percent of all spending. Subject to the previous restriction, the Governor may exercise his veto power as described below, but for any spending or revenue bill, the power to sign bills and the veto power may be exercised only during a one week time period for reviewing and/or vetoing bills, commencing two weeks before the day prescribed for adjournment. If the Legislature has approved revenue bills with total amounts in excess of the BUDGET CAP, the Governor must veto revenue and/or spending bills and/or line items to effect a balanced budget having total revenue less than or equal to the BUDGET CAP.

If the Governor he approves a bill, he shall sign it, deposit it in the office of the secretary of state and notify the house in which it originated of that fact. If he vetoes a bill, he shall return it with his objections to the house in which it originated. His objections shall be entered in the journal. If, after reconsideration, two-thirds of that house agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the governor's objections, to the other house, which shall likewise reconsider it. If approved by two-thirds of that house it becomes a law and shall be deposited in the office of the secretary of state. In such cases the votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for or against the bill shall be entered in the journal of each house. Any bill not returned by the governor by the week prior to the day prescribed for adjournment within three days (Sundays excepted) after it is presented to him becomes a law as if he had signed it., unless the legislature by adjournment within that time prevents its return. Any bill passed during the last three days of a session may be presented to the governor during the three days following the day of final adjournment and becomes law if the governor signs and deposits it in the office of the secretary of state within 14 days after the adjournment of the legislature. Any bill passed during the last three days of the session which is not signed and deposited within 14 days after adjournment does not become a law.

All spending bills shall have distinct items of appropriations for each separate program or category of expenditure.  The Legislature may provide by law for limited transfers between and among appropriations for related programs, but any such provisions shall also explicitly state both the Legislature's intent for such transfers, and the limits placed on the maximum allowable percentages and the timing of such transfers.  If a bill presented to the governor contains several items of appropriation of money, he may veto one or more of the items while approving the bill. At the time he signs the bill the governor shall append to it a statement of the items he vetoes and the vetoed items shall not take effect. If the legislature is in session, he He shall transmit to the house in which the bill originated a copy of the statement, and the items vetoed shall be separately reconsidered. If on reconsideration any item is approved by two-thirds of the members elected to each house, it is a part of the law notwithstanding the objections of the governor.

--------End of detail section; Amendment Text --------------

 

 

 

Revisions from the original draft of the TAX and VETO CAP Amendment

 

1.  The name and phrase have been changed; from "TAX CAP" to "TAX AND VETO CAP".

 

2.  This new language was added to the last paragraph in Sec. 23, subd. b:

All spending bills shall have distinct items of appropriations for each separate program or category of expenditure.  The Legislature may provide by law for limited transfers between and among appropriations for related programs, but any such provisions shall also explicitly state both the Legislature's intent for such transfers, and the limits placed on the maximum allowable percentages and the timing of such transfers.

The idea behind the additional language is threefold: First, to allow the Governor's line item vetoes to be more narrowly focused; Second, to ensure Legislative intent is the guiding principle for all programs, and Third, to provide for needed flexibility when circumstances and requirements change within a category of similar programs during the course of a biennium.

 

3.  For all spending and revenue bills, the power to sign bills is limited to "a one week time period for reviewing and/or vetoing bills, commencing two weeks before the day prescribed for adjournment."

 

The power to veto spending and revenue bills is also limited to this one week period.  The idea is to have everything before the Governor by the start of this one week period, and to determine if the Governor's veto power is restricted by the Legislature's success in staying at or under the TAX CAP.