Pawlenty Budget Chief Shipping Out For Lobby Job

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- The head of the Minnesota agency that oversees the state budget is moving on as Gov. Tim Pawlenty's term draws closer to an end.

Minnesota Management and Budget Commissioner Tom Hanson will leave the state payroll on Dec. 1 to join a law firm's lobbying division. The departure was announced Wednesday in a news release from Pawlenty's office.

Hanson will be leaving one day before a new economic forecast is issued. That report will determine how large of a budget deficit lawmakers will be dealing with next year. Past projections peg the two-year shortfall at $5.8 billion.

Hanson has worked for Pawlenty in various roles since 2003, but spent the past four as his budget chief.

His new employer is the Minneapolis firm of Winthrop and Weinstine.

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