Ninetieth Minnesota State Senate v. Dayton
The Ninetieth Minnesota State Senate v. Dayton, (903 N.W.2d 609), was a 2017 Minnesota Supreme Court case where the Court ruled that Governor Mark Dayton's line item vetoes of appropriations for the Minnesota Senate and Minnesota House of Representatives were a lawful exercise of his authority granted by the Minnesota Constitution. The Court also ruled that since the state legislature had access to other funding to continue operating as a fully functioning and independent branch of government, the governor's vetoes did not effectively abolish the legislature and thereby violate Article III of the state constitution. The Court also ruled that the judicial branch did not have the constitutional authority to order funding without a corresponding budgetary appropriation. The Supreme Court's ruling overturned an earlier ruling by a Ramsey County District Court judge. The case marked the first time in which the Minnesota Supreme Court was asked to resolve a lawsuit brought by one branch of government against another. Background The Minnesota Legislature adjourned its regular session in 2017 on May 22 with a significant amount of unfinished business; it had failed to pass any omnibus spending bills establishing the state's budget for the next two years. Legislative leaders came to