Lawsuit Seeks To Restore Cuts To General Assistance Medical Care - PLUS No New Progress in the Negotiations

March 4, 2010
State Capitol - By Marty Owings

A Lawsuit was filed in Ramsey County Thursday that would extend GAMC for an additional month, in the hope it would give Law Makers and the Governor enough time to negotiate a solution that would restore the program. In addition, the lawsuit challenges Governor Pawlenty's authority to unilaterally unallot money from the program. The program is set to expire on April 1 and without any agreement between the DFL controlled Legislature and the Governor, many see the Courtroom as their only recourse in the fight.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of three people, Robert Fischer, Gabriella Raspa and James Beede. Legal Aid is assisting with the case. Governor Pawlenty's spokesman, Brian McClung is quoted in a Star Tribune article as saying that the lawsuit, "seeks to spend money the state doesn't have. It underscores why the state budget shouldn't be run out of a courtroom."

The lawsuit is essentially a restraining order. You can view the entire PDF of the lawsuit in the attachment bellow.

Meanwhile, late night GAMC negotiations yielded little progress.

Several key DFL members of the House and Senate, including Sen. Linda Berglin, Rep. Erin Murphy, Rep. Tom Huntley and others met with representatives from the Governor's office to continue negotiations on a GAMC solution. Berglin emerged from the meeting and spoke with me briefly about the negotiations. She characterized them as disappointing, saying the two groups were still roughly $46 million dollars apart.

Senator Linda Berglin (DFL) - discusses the GAMC negotiations:
Click Here For The Audio.