Image via WikipediaMinnesota Governor Mark Dayton dropped the usual happy talk that comes with describing the State of the State Wednesday, and laid it out to his audience of legislators jammed into the same chambers at the Capitol for the occasion. To get this state out from under the mess Dayton's predecessor Tim Pawlenty created, the Democratic governor called for a bipartisan effort to invest (in so many words) in more jobs, more education funding, more money for transportation, and to streamline government services.The Governor has yet to announce his budget plans, but one cat he did let out of the bag is that he still favors taxing the wealthiest Minnesotans, a leftover campaign promise.
That's not likely to fly with a Republican-controlled legislature trying to deal with a $6.2 billion deficit. The one budget bill they did pass so far, which would have made $900 million in cuts, was just vetoed by Governor Dayton.
So what are the GOP's proposals to save the state some money? How about . . . opening liquor stores on Sundays, so customers don't have to drive across the border to buy booze and pay their sales taxes? Letting sex offenders go, whether they've been rehabilitated or not? Deny funding for abortions? Requiring voters to show some form of ID at the polls on Election Day? This may be an unoriginal thought, but these proposals sound more like solutions in need of a problem.
In the same State of the State address, Dayton's calls for bipartisanship were undercut by his accusing Republicans of planning a government shutdown this summer if things don't go their way. GOP leaders were flabbergasted, claiming they have made no such plans. Well, we'll see about that.
The fireworks are just getting started in St. Paul, and it'll be interesting to see who or what gets caught in the crossfire. Wonder if anything of significance will get done?
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