Constitutional "billion dollar band-aid" would require "the peoples' approval, but not the Governor's"

The solution is "like a reverse Jesse check -- to pay the Governor's credit card charge of about $200 for every Minnesotan"

Carney will be at the Legislature "as much as possible" for the rest of the session

Launch of Carney's video series: "Tom and me", will be delayed until the session is completed
 

Contact: Bob Carney Jr. -- (612)-824-4479 (home and business)

Note: please use this e-mail temporarily -- bobcarneyjr@msn.com

My e-mail address at republicancontract currently has technical problems -- Bob

Note: if you prefer to receive news releases at another e-mail address, please let me know -- Bob

For an archive of all news releases, and more information, please visit: www.republicancontract.com

For immediate release                                                                              

Minneapolis, MN, May 10, 2010 -- Moderate Progressive Republican candidate for Governor Bob Carney Jr. today proposed a "billion dollar band-aid" -- a constitutional amendment to solve the present (so-called) "unallotment crisis."

Carney is running for Governor of Minnesota in the Republican primary.

Carney, a "candidate/journalist", is also launching a video series: "Tom and me", designed to "smoke out" endorsed Republican candidate, State Representative Tom Emmer. "I am challenging Tom to three one-hour video discussions," Carney said.

"David had a sling shot... I've got a camcorder -- that's progress," Carney said. Each episode of "Tom and me" will go on youtube.com as it is produced.
 

An artificial, unnecessary crisis, and a stampeding Legislature

"Rahm Emanuel was quoted suggesting 'a crisis should not be allowed to go to waste'. I say: let's not have a crisis at all! Instead, we can and should provide for some time to think things through. That's what the 'billion dollar band-aid' accomplishes," Carney said.

A constitutional amendment requires only a majority vote by both houses of the Legislature. The Governor has no role in the amendment process.

"Frankly, Governor Pawlenty has been the 'unmovable object' in this whole unallotment fiasco. The 'billion dollar band-aid' lets us go around him. When the Governor realizes that his 'NO!' can be bypassed, and HAS been bypassed, maybe he'll start serious negotiations -- as an alternative to being irrelevant," Carney said.

The "billion dollar band-aid"

The "billion dollar band-aid" amendment would do four main things:
 

1. Ratify the revenue recognition shifts and school aid deferrals, with repayment over ten years.

2. Provide up to one billion dollars in proceeds from general obligation bonds, to pay other statutorily created obligations that were unlawfully unalloted. All such obligations will be paid, with interest, by July 1, 2011.

3. Bar any and all lawsuits to undo unlawful unallotments.

4. Allow the Legislature to implement the amendment by a majority vote, not subject to a veto by the Governor.
 

"Stampeding might be fine for Texas Legislatures... but we're Minnesota. Let's just all stop, take a deep breath, and think things through calmly," Carney said.

Carney said the "billion dollar band-aid" is "like a reverse Jesse check. In 2009 Governor Pawlenty signed the spending bills -- but not the revenue bill.  The Governor signed a 'reverse Jesse check'... a credit card purchase of about $200 for every Minnesotan.  Now, we all need to pay off Governor Pawlenty's credit card charges.  The "billion dollar band-aid" helps -- it lets us pay this off over ten years, at low interest. But we're still stuck with the charges the Governor put on our MinnCard," Carney said.

Time to think, time to heal

There isn't enough time remaining in the regular session for the Legislature to properly deliberate to resolve the current unallotment situation. But with the 'billion dollar band-aid' amendment set for a vote, everyone can rest assured that if the Governor and the Legislature can't work things out in a special session, 'We the People' of Minnesota can work it out for them this fall. Alternatively, if the amendment is voted down by the people of Minnesota, that will be clear signal that some really serious budget cutting is being demanded," Carney said.

If no special session solution emerges, and if the "billion dollar band-aid" was voted down this fall, Minnesota's Constitution and statutes still allow for certificates of indebtedness to be rolled over into the next biennium. The Constitution also requires an across the board property tax if the budget can't be brought into balance by December 1, 2011. "This wouldn't be pretty -- but we're in no danger of becoming California," Carney said. "Ultimately, it's better to put these issues to 'We the People' of Minnesota this fall, than to try to cook up some half-baked solution in panic mode, with no real deliberation, no transparency, and no public input, during the last few days of this session," Carney concluded.

The one billion dollar amount is deliberately set to cover most, but not all, of the unallotments other than the school aid deferrals and revenue recognition shifts. Carney emphasized that the proposed amendment would not preclude a special session before the 2010 general election. "With this amendment coming up for a vote, the Governor and the Legislature can still negotiate, and could still come up with a solution that could make the amendment unnecessary," Carney said.
 

The Amendment Text: [Note: a revised version is on-line as of 5/11/10]

On or before July 1, 2011, the State of Minnesota shall issue up to one billion dollars in general obligation bonds, to be amortized over 12 years, with only interest paid for the first two years, and with proceeds going to the State General Fund, to be available to pay prior statutorily created obligations and any other amounts that were unalloted before a May 6, 2010 Minnesota Supreme Court decision held such unallotments were and are unlawful.

The revenue recognition shifts and school aid deferrals undertaken pursuant to the 2009 unallotments, totalling [$1.7 billion, exact number to be determined] are ratified. The school aid deferrals, totaling [exact number], shall be repaid by the Legislature separately, without use of the bond proceeds, over a ten year period, with reasonable interest, according to a repayment schedule to be determined by the Legislature.

All other prior statutorily created obligations, and any other amounts unalloted during the 2010-11 biennium, shall be paid by the Legislature on or before July 1, 2011, together with reasonable interest. By the Legislature's approval of this amendment, notice is given that if this amendment is approved by the voters any and all legal actions pursuant to the enforcement of all the said prior statutorily created obligations shall be moot, and no award or legal fee shall be paid for any such legal action.

The Legislature shall implement this amendment through appropriate legislation passed by a majority of both houses, but the implementation of this amendment shall not be subject to veto by the Governor.
 

Legislative Deliberation vs Panic Mode

"In a '...republican form of government...' the Legislature is the pre-eminent branch... the first among equals. This principle is the centerpiece of my campaign for Governor. The role of the Governor is limited -- the focus should be on impartial, efficient administration, and on helping the Legislature to deliberate and work together," Carney said.

"Unfortunately, during the Pawlenty Administration, the Governor's office has begun to function as almost a kind of 'third house' of the Legislature (and more recently a vacation home!) The model has been along this line: with one third plus one of 'boots on the ground,' the role of the Governor is: first, to stop the growth of government through vetoes of any tax increase, and more recently -- through unallotment -- to circumvent the core policy and priority setting functions of the legislative process," Carney added.

Both the unlawful use of unallotment in 2009, and the recent court ruling, have also resulted in situations where attempts to deliberate and set policy have been undertaken in "panic mode," under artificial and unnecessary time deadlines.

Near the end of the 2009 session, Governor Pawlenty announced his intention to use unallotment to balance the budget, and called on the Legislature to enact cuts as an alternative.

"Springing unallotment as a last-minute solution, and then requiring this magnitude of cuts on a crisis schedule really amounts to showboating. The Legislature, with 201 members, and each member with a network of contacts, is far more capable of understanding the impact of cuts, and cutting wisely, than the executive branch, with a handful of staff and some spreadsheets. But the Legislative process requires time. It is simply wrong to even attempt to undertake it without the necessary time to do the job right. The result can only be a subverting and sabotaging of the Legislative process. I watched the on-line video of the Senate Finance Committee hearing last Saturday, and although I realize people are working under difficult circumstances, I was frankly appalled and disgusted. A program of almost $3 billion dollars was rammed through in half an hour, with no detail available for about one billion of the total cuts. When the Chair asked if there was any public testimony, not a single individual came forward. I was at the Independence Party convention, as a visitor, but would have considered going to that meeting, if I had known about it," Carney said.

Here's an excerpt from the Committee hearing:

Senator Cohen: "I haven't had time these last 48 hours, to be honest, to deal with a lot of the details in the bill. I've done as best I can, but it's not... I've been pretty busy..."

Senator Senjem: "Senator Cohen, it seems like we're chasing a $2.962 billion dollar problem with a $1.873 billion dollar solution, to this point. Is that to suggest that as this thing moves forward that Senator Bakk is going to have to pick some of this up as well?"

Senator Cohen: "Senator Senjem, I'm not sure if you heard me earlier, that this is what I anticipate to be a partial bill. It will be a complete bill when we fill all these other pieces in by Monday morning. And again, let me repeat for members. The problem that Senator Senjem points is $2.962 billion. This part, this amendment, which admittedly is incomplete, is $1.873 billion."

"I'm not trying to pick on anyone. My point is simply this: we have all been stampeded into an artificially induced panic. The Legislature is functioning in panic mode -- not as deliberative body. It is simply a cruel joke to present this as the process of a Legislature. By comparison, the Pawlenty Administration's unallotment process was a model of deliberation and rectitude. We have an alternative to panic mode. If we adopt the 'billion dollar band-aid,' the Legislature will have time to be a Legislature. The alternative is to confirm Karl Marx in his observation that history repeats itself -- first as tragedy, then as farce," Carney said.
 

Impeachment is not presently needed or appropriate

Carney has also concluded the "billion dollar band-aid" amendment would be the last step needed to make any consideration of impeachment unnecessary and inappropriate. "Before the Supreme Court's ruling, I had personally concluded that what Governor Pawlenty has done rises to the level of an impeachable offense," Carney said. "However, with the recent Supreme Court decision, we are in a new situation. The unallotment power has been clearly and appropriately defined by the Court -- no future Governor can attempt what Governor Pawlenty attempted. The Governor now has both a new opportunity, and an absolutely clear obligation: to take care that the laws be faithfully executed. From a cash flow point of view, under the present circumstances, the "billion dollar band aid" is the most prudent, and least disruptive and destabilizing option. Rolling over certificates of indebtedness is an alternative cash flow option. But in any case, I don't see any basis-- or any excuse -- for not paying all the state's obligations, as required by law," Carney concluded.
 

"candidate/journalist" Carney covers the Independence Party convention

Carney covered the Independence Party's state convention Saturday, held at Normandale Community College in Bloomington. The convention endorsed self-described "recovering Republican" Tom Horner for Governor.

"I was surprised at how many current and former Republicans were there. I did video interviews with Senator Durenberger (former Republican State Chairman Chuck Slocum walked into the middle of it), and former State Representative Ron Erhardt, one of the group I call 'the override six'... Republican House members who voted to override Governor Pawlenty's veto of the 2008 transportation bill. Another of the 'override six', Neil Peterson, was an Independence Party delegate. So was former Republican State Senator George Pillsbury, who said "hi" as he was leaving the hall (but escaped an interview). It's obvious that a lot of Republicans who have been driven off the ark have taken to IP lifeboats," Carney said.
 

Carney speaks on Tea Party Radio

Carney also talked for an hour last night with Minnesota Tea Party Patriots leader Tony Backdahl on her radio program "We had a thoughtful discussion. I'm looking forward to continuing to work with Toni, and with the Minnesota Tea Party," Carney said. Carney and Backdahl have met for two two-hour discussion sessions in the last month, and are working together to try to ensure the so-called "judicial retention" amendment does not move to the General Election ballot this fall. "The concerns of those, including former Governor Al Quie, are legitimate. However, we are trying to fix something that isn't broken," Carney said. Carney is advancing an alternative amendment, designed to prevent judicial activism. An article about the amendment, including the text of the proposed amendment, is at Carney's website: www.republicancontract.com.
 

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