newsminer.com

Gov. Palin made the next move in the budget battle with the Legislature today by calling for individual meetings with lawmakers to discuss the vetoed capital projects at the heart of the issue.

"I will be very interested to learn why you put these projects forward, why you feel state funds should be used for these projects, how high of a priority these projects are for your district and community, and what time considerations exist that necessitated funding in the supplemental versus the standard capital budget," she wrote in a letter to lawmakers. "These issues will be critical in our evaluation and decision making process prior to any decision regarding potential vetoes."

The supplemental budget bill (with the capital projects Palin vetoed last year) passed both houses yesterday and was transmitted to the gov today. Palin can use her line-item veto powers, but has to do it by April 5. The meetings she's asking for would be by Senate district with the one senator and two house members.

My own take on this thing is that the two key factors -- overall spending and qualifications for individual projects -- are getting muddled. Did Palin cut the projects last year because spending was too high or because the projects didn't meet her criteria for valid state projects? Or did she apply her criteria to prioritize after she decided the spending was too high?

Maybe it doesn't matter, but it seems like Palin is unclear on her goal. Last week, she told lawmakers she would let them essentially use their own criteria for part of the budget as long as they talk with her about overall spending. In her letter today, she's asking them to justify their projects again.