Thursday, June 14, 2007
Hope this isn't right
Larry Schumacher blogged yesterday that one of the people pressing the need for a special session on Governor Pawlenty is St. Cloud Mayor (and former state Senator) Dave Kleis.
Did Mayor Kleis promise the voters more than he could afford, betting on the come of more LGA money? Even if he did, the LGA money could come out in the next session rather than in a special. And Governor Pawlenty should stick to the fact that he's "skeptical they can be restrained."Pawlenty, who was overheard telling St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis last week at the Sartell Centennial breakfast "We'll get you that LGA," said Wednesday his staff is meeting with legislative leaders to try to work something out.
Kleis, of course, called on Pawlenty to convene a special session so that a tax bill giving cities, counties and townships additional state aid could be repassed after Pawlenty vetoed it because of a provision requiring inflation to be factored into state spending predictions.
Kleis is hoping for more than $1 million in extra state aid to offset the local property tax cost of hiring a dozen new police officers and a dozen new firefighters in the next couple years as he pledged to do if voters approved a property tax bond to pay for a new police headquarters and new fire stations.
That bond kicks in next year and Kleis doesn't want to have to raise property taxes on top of it to staff the buildings.
A one-day special session is the equivalent of an untimed down at the end of a football game, usually given to the team behind for one last chance to score. The defense never wants to play an untimed down.
Labels: Kleis, legislature, Pawlenty, St. Cloud
