The Republican legislative leadership unveiled its government reform package this morning at a Capitol news briefing.

At this point, there were no big surprises in its Reform 2.0 package (PDF) that Republicans clearly want to run on in next November’s elections.

Republicans want to cut regulations, decrease property taxes for businesses, fight nationalized health care and, in case of another shutdown, make sure liquor stores don’t run out of beer.

Additionally, Republican leaders want to make major changes in public education, especially in districts with “failing schools.’’  Among other things, the GOP would put the mayors of large, troubled districts such as Minneapolis and St. Paul in charge of education in those cities and make it easier for public money to flow into an increasing number of charter schools.

What might have been most instructive about the unveiling of this newest Reform 2.0 proposal is the differences between the Senate and the House initiatives. The House version of reform covered two pages and included  34 separate items. The Senate, which of course now has brand new leadership, offered up a three-point reform outline.

“But we’re in lockstep with the House,’’ said Senate Majority Leader Dave Senjem.

House Speaker Kurt Zellers tried hard to sell the package as “big, bold reform.’’

In fact, Gov. Mark Dayton — and presumably DFL legislators — will support many of the “reform’’ ideas being proposed, especially those surrounding cutting red tape for businesses looking to build or expand companies in Minnesota. Only 24 hours earlier, Dayton had unveiled his newest initiative, a one-stop shopping plan, for businesses working through government agencies.

Clearly, government workers and their benefit packlages will continue to be under fire by Republicans.  It should be noted, that new Senate spokesman, Steve Sviguum, who will benefit mightily from a government pension, was not on hand for this presentation.