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Pawlenty, Hatch feud as state shutdown nears
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| Contributor | Eric |
| Last Edited | Eric Jun 03, 2005 02:35pm |
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| Category | News |
| News Date | Friday, June 3, 2005 08:00:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | St. Paul, Minn. — Gov. Tim Pawlenty maintains that budget disagreements between himself and Senate Democrats are manageable, and that there's no reason a satisfactory solution can't be in place before the current budget runs out on June 30t
In a worst-case scenario, though, he says his administration may need to seek court authority to keep critical services running.
Gov. Tim Pawlenty
But Pawlenty says he's not sure Attorney General Mike Hatch can separate his duties as the state's top lawyer from his own political aspirations, which could include a direct match-up with Pawlenty in the 2006 elections.
Hatch hasn't officially declared himself a candidate for Pawlenty's job, but he's sent several letters to DFL activists testing the gubernatorial waters. Pawlenty says that raises a possible conflict of interest.
"Our attorney can't also be simultaneously our political opponent," Pawlenty says. "That's a very awkward posture. And, again, the situation's going to be tense enough as it is if it gets to that point, and awkward enough as it is without having that extra layer of complexity or tension or conflict."
In a letter to Hatch, Pawlenty asks him to consider stepping aside, saying "the 2006 election should not compromise the public's interest."
Pawlenty and Hatch have a history of squabbling and trading public barbs over each other's performance in office. But Hatch says Pawlenty has mistaken the respective roles of the governor and the attorney general.
In 2001, the state faced a similar budget crisis before a shutdown was averted at the last minute. Hatch says that at that time, his office successfully petitioned the courts to grant spending authority to a broad range of state officials. But he says in doing so, he represented the entire state of Minnesota, not just then-Gov. Jesse Ventura. He says if history repeats itself, he again won't be serving directly as the governor's legal advisor, and therefore any conflict betw |
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