Minnesota GOP lawmakers sue to undo state employee pay raise

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A pair of Minnesota Republican lawmakers is suing the state’s budget agency in an attempt to halt pay raises for state employees.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that Rep. Marion O’Neill, R-Maple Lake, and Sen. Mark Koran, R-North Branch, have asked a Ramsey County Judge to strike down a decision by the Minnesota Management and Budget to give government employees a 2.5% raise in July.

The Senate Republican majority voted to postpone the pay hike amid the pandemic, but Gov. Tim Walz’s administration ruled that legislators did not have the authority to modify the pay raise.