Senate ready to intervene in shutdown lawsuit

Posted at 11:38 AM on June 16, 2011 by Tim Pugmire
Filed under: MN Legislature, Mark Dayton

A Minnesota Senate panel has approved a resolution allowing the full body to join a government-shutdown lawsuit.

Republican members of the Senate Rules Committee authorized the legal intervention today on a 6 to 3, party line vote. The resolution follows separate petitions filed earlier this week by Governor Mark Dayton and Attorney General Lori Swanson seeking temporary funding for core government services. Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch, R-Buffalo, said she prefers negotiating a budget agreement, but she said the procedural move gives the Senate some options.

"The situation frankly I mean is changing every day," Koch said. "I wanted to ensure that there was at least an option for the Senate to have a seat at the table, an just to preserve the interests of the Senate."

Senate Minority Leader Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, said he couldn't support the resolution because its doesn't outline a Senate position on the litigation.

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