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Political Agenda

Dayton details what the $1.4 billion in revenue will cover

By Doug Grow | 07/15/11
Gov. Mark Dayton
MinnPost/Terry Gydesen
Gov. Mark Dayton

Although Gov. Mark Dayton at this point apparently has not tried to muscle DFLers into supporting the budget-settling arrangement that seems to please few, his office did send out a chart (PDF) Thursday night to DFL legislators suggesting that the deal isn’t without some merit.

The chart's heading is “Minnesota Needs a Fair and Balanced Solution, What the $1.4 billion difference really means to Minnesotans,’’ and the document breaks down how the borrowed revenue will benefit various parties.

“It reads like a wonderland,’’ said Sen. Ann Rest, DFL-New Hope.

Her voice was filled with sarcasm.

“It [the revenue] protects people, it protects kids, but for how long?” she asked.

The Dayton memo points out that the revenue gained will cut an $128 million gap between what Dayton wanted to spend on K-12 education and what Republicans offered. It closes a $556 million gap in Human Services. Etc.

So was Dayton trying to “sell’’ DFLers, who almost universally are saying they hate the resolution but support the governor?

“I don’t know if he was asking support so much as he was trying to point out that there is some good in this,’’ said Sen. John Marty, DFL-Roseville.

Marty went on to describe the deal as “bizarre.’’

“It’s scary to watch this unfold,’’ Marty said, “but the governor was in an impossible situation. It feels like a punch in the gut but at least the fight is over for now.’’

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Comments (4)

Submitted by David Greene on July 15, 2011 - 12:05pm.

On transportation at least, we'll go from "deep" cuts on Greater MN transit and "major" cuts to Metro Transit (both were "deep" in my mind) to "major" cuts to Greater MN transit and "painful" cuts to Metro Transit.

With this deal there will still be service cuts and fare hikes, just at the time people are trying to get jobs. If you can't get to the interview, you can't get the job. People are going to be laid off because of this slash-and-burn of transit.

Part of the deal reportedly diverts some of the quarter-cent metro sales tax that currently goes to transit capital costs to take over operating responsibilities from the state. So not only are we making cuts, we're raiding the very fund that is supposed to be dedicated to _expanding_ the system.

Submitted by Lynda Friedman on July 15, 2011 - 2:28pm.

So did someone ask Gov. Dayton's staff if the "Fair and Balanced" heading on the chart was snarkily intentional or a result of listening to the depressing propaganda machine that is Fox too long?

Submitted by Dennis Tester on July 16, 2011 - 6:34am.

Let's see some numbers. Otherwise we're left with meaningless hyperbole. Hasn't anyone around here ever worked with a real-world budget?

Submitted by Tim Brausen on July 16, 2011 - 1:26pm.

Dayton has successfully pulled the State back from the cliff that the Republican zealots were willing to run the government and the state's people off. He's doing his best to save essential services, including restoring them from the shutdown.

By "kicking the can" down the road with borrowing again, the questions have been set up clearly for the 2012 election:

After having a taste of life without government, do you want to ask the rich to fund their fair share, or do you want less of those services? Are we willing to ask all citizens to pay for our shared and common needs as a community? All of us benefit, why should some pay less than their share?