Gov. Mark Dayton's constitutionally risky attempt to eliminate funding for Minnesota's Legislature comes before the state Supreme Court this week for its final judgment, with the outcome certain to shape the governor's final year in office and color his legacy.
The Minnesota Supreme Court will livestream oral arguments online beginning at 8:50 a.m. Click here to watch.
A district court judge already ruled against Dayton's move to zero out the House and Senate budgets through the line-item veto. Ramsey County Judge John Guthmann wrote in July that Dayton's move "effectively abolished the Legislature" and was unconstitutional.
If the Supreme Court reverses Guthmann's decision, Dayton will be able to withhold pay from lawmakers and staff in an effort to force Republican legislative leaders back to the bargaining table on some recently enacted tax cuts and two other GOP-crafted state laws that Dayton signed.
If Dayton loses, it will be at the hands of a high court whose majority he appointed, with long-lasting ramifications for the stature of future governors at odds with state lawmakers.
Dayton said in an interview that history will be final judge of his actions, and he defended his attempt to cut off pay for state lawmakers and their employees even though it could see him leave office with his relationship with the Legislature at a low point.
"I've done my utmost to conduct myself honorably in the office," said Dayton, whose second and final term concludes at the end of 2018. "People may disagree with our policies, but I hope people believe I have acted in the best interests of Minnesota, and that I have conducted myself within the legal authority provided me."
For Republicans, who will control the Legislature and the fate of Dayton's agenda for the balance of his term, the governor crossed a line into a kind of monarchical behavior.