State finance officials again told a legislative panel on Wednesday that Minnesota may need to borrow money as early as this spring simply to keep the state's cash flow in the black.

State budget officials are looking at emergency options to avoid short-term borrowing before the fiscal year ends on June 30.

Ramsey County District Chief Judge Kathleen Gearin's Dec. 30 order invalidating a $5.3-million human services cut made unilaterally by the Republican governor isn't taking center stage at the Legislature.

But if other groups affected by the $2.7 billion in unallotments also take Pawlenty to court, the budget hole could grow larger.

Last week's court ruling against his unilateral budget cuts notwithstanding, all of the $2.7 billion in unallotments announced last summer by Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty are expected to be completed by mid-month.

State finance officials last week told a House and Senate budget panel that they might have to borrow money for the first time since 1984 in order to keep state government operating. And a senior debt-management analyst conceded that the move could damage Minnesota's credit rating.

The House Jobs Task Force appointed last summer by Speaker and gubernatorial candidate Margaret Anderson Kelliher (DFL-Minneapolis) is meeting in all-day session today. This time around, the gavel is in the hands of Capital Investment Finance Division chair Alice Hausman (DFL-St. Paul; pictured above at right), one of the panel's three co-chairs.