What are the origins of Minnesota’s unallotment law, and how much has it been used?
The law was passed in 1939 as part of a broad package of government reforms urged by Republican Gov. Harold Stassen. At the time, Minnesota was facing a revenue shortfall caused mainly by a post-1937 downturn in the Depression-era economy, and Stassen wanted the administrative authority to make emergency spending reductions to keep the budget in balance. This year represents the fifth time in the modern era that unallotment powers will have been used by a Minnesota governor. During the recession of the early 1980s, Republican Gov. Al Quie unalloted $195 million. A 1986 budget impasse was resolved in part through $109 million in unallotments by DFL Gov. Rudy Perpich. The other two uses of the power have been by Pawlenty: $281 million in 2003–when the state was dealing with a $4.3 billion deficit and a mild economic downturn–and $272 million last December.
