GOP Lawmakers Challenge Minn. Shutdown Funding

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- Four Republican senators have asked Minnesota's highest court to prevent the judicial branch from authorizing state spending in a government shutdown.

The petition filed Monday says court-ordered funding for critical services would violate the constitutional separation of powers and infringe on the Legislature's power to appropriate money.

It says Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton is trying to soften the blow of a government closure by asking the courts to continue services such as prison guards and the State Patrol. Dayton said Monday he will add payments to health and welfare providers to his list of critical services.

Minnesota is headed for a shutdown starting July 1 unless Dayton and the Republican-controlled Legislature pass a new state budget. They are at a political impasse.

The petition from Sens. Warren Limmer and colleagues also argues that the courts have no authority to order stalled budget talks into mediation, as Dayton has proposed.

Attorney General Lori Swanson is asking the state Supreme Court to dismiss the petition.

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