The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s unallotment of a special diet program for low income Minnesotans was beyond the scope of the law. The executive branch, the court wrote, “exceeded its authority by using that statute to balance the budget through reducing allotments before the budget-making process was completed.”

Last June, Pawlenty used his unallotment powers to eliminate funding for several programs, including $300 million in cuts to local-government aid and $236 million in human-services spending. One of those cuts ended the Minnesota Supplemental Aid Special Diet Program. Those clients sued and won in lower courts. On Wednesday, the Minnesota Supreme Court agreed.

The court wrote (pdf):

In the context of this limited constitutional grant of gubernatorial authority with regard to appropriations, we cannot conclude that the Legislature intended to authorize the executive branch to use the unallotment process to balance the budget for an entire biennium when balanced spending and revenue legislation has not been initially agreed upon by the Legislature and the Governor. Instead, we conclude that the Legislature intended the unallotment authority to serve the more narrow purpose of providing a mechanism by which the executive branch could address unanticipated deficits that occur after a balanced budget has previously been enacted.

Because the legislative and executive branches never enacted a balanced budget for the 2010-2011 biennium, use of the unallotment power to address the unresolved deficit exceeded the authority granted to the executive branch by the statute. We therefore affirm the district court‘s conclusion that the unallotment of the Special Diet Program funds was unlawful and void.

Gov. Pawlenty released this statement in reaction to the decision.

“I strongly disagree with this 4-3 decision by the court. Nonetheless it will require the legislature and my administration to address its budget impacts. The funds do not exist to reinstate my unallotments and the state budget needs to be balanced without raising taxes. I call upon the DFL-controlled legislature to ratify the unallotments I enacted last year.

“I will fight to reduce spending and taxes in Minnesota and that battle continues. My commitment to the people of Minnesota remains the same: we will balance the budget without raising taxes.”