BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum has responded to a lawsuit filed by the Legislature challenging his veto powers.
Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem is defending Burgum in the lawsuit and filed a response to it on Friday.
Stenehjem says he will base his state Supreme Court argument on a previous opinion he authored in June that actually favors the Legislature on some of the vetoes.
But Stenehjem says he will argue that lawmakers ceded too much power by giving a subset of the Legislature “significant budgetary decisions” that were not authorized.
Lawmakers allege Burgum violated his line-item veto power last spring by deleting words or phrases on several spending bills in a way that changed intent.
Stenehjem lost to Burgum in the Republican primary for governor last year.
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