Bonding bill: Line item veto slams DFL districts, spares GOP’s

Gov. Tim Pawlenty used his line-item veto on Monday to shred a portion of the capital investment bonding bill that hit his desk last week. He cut $208 million out of the $925 million bill, with a large amount coming out of requests for St. Paul. Pawlenty told reporters Monday, “It’s not about being a Democrat or a Republican. It’s about setting the right priorities for the state and living within our means. There’s no personal messages in here for anybody in particular.”

Yet the investments Pawlenty deleted create the appearance of political game-playing. The St. Paul Pioneer Press’ blog, Political Animal, reports:

An analysis by Senate Majority (Democratic) Research showed that of the 50 projects he vetoed that affected specific Senate districts, 49 were in DFL districts and one was in a Republican district. It also showed that $204 million, or 98 percent, was cut from DFL districts, $4.1 million, or 1.95 percent, was cut from statewide projects and $100,000, or .04 percent, was cut from Republican districts.