BISMARCK, N.D. - The North Dakota Legislature is suing Gov. Doug Burgum over his veto powers.
The bipartisan Legislative Management Committee voted to file a lawsuit in the state Supreme Court, after meeting behind closed doors to talk about strategy.
The Republican-led Legislature adjourned on April 27, and Burgum used his line-item veto during the following week to change parts of several spending bills.
Legislators contend the governor violated his veto powers by deleting words or phrases that would have changed the intent.
Burgum says in a statement that the intent of the vetoes ''was to protect executive branch authority, preserve the separation of powers and prevent spending of scarce state resources without full legislative review.''
He says the lawsuit isn't a ''prudent use of taxpayer dollars.''