New Gov. Mark Dayton had long said one of the first things he'd do in office was to sign an executive order moving Minnesota to a Medicaid expansion program. And it was on the to-do list for Tuesday.

But now Dayton says he'll sign the order Wednesday, at the request of new House Speaker Kurt Zellers, who apparently wanted to get Tuesday's first-day-in-office logistics — when Republicans take over the state House and Senate — squared away first.

Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty wouldn't make the switch to the federal expansion last year, saying it would cost the state too much. But he had signed a bill passed by legislators giving a new governor the authority to make the switch.

The expansion will take some time to implement, and the one-day delay should have no impact on the change-over. It will cover all Minnesotans currently on General Assistance medical care, as well as 20,000 others.

Dayton will sign the order at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, in a public ceremony in the Governor's Reception Room at the Capitol.