Seven days to find $5 billion
- Article by: BAIRD HELGESON and RACHEL E. STASSEN-BERGER , Star Tribune
- Updated: May 15, 2011 - 8:53 AM
The gap between DFL and Republican leaders might actually be growing.
The budget battle at the Capitol is drawing unnervingly close to its end amid signs the two sides may be sliding toward an all-out political brawl.
The gap between DFL Gov. Mark Dayton and GOP leaders is deep, and they face a monumental to-do list before the May 23 adjournment deadline. Republicans refuse to raise taxes as Dayton insists, but have yet to present their own balanced budget.
The standoff has left few options for an agreement, raising the threat of a special session and a bruising government shutdown.
"The deadline is what forces compromise that wouldn't happen otherwise, so I am still hopeful we can work it out,'' Dayton said Friday. "But there's going to be a lot to resolve."
The two sides remain at least $3 billion apart.
Republicans say they are willing to deal on elements, but not on the overall budget number.
"There's lots of room for compromise," said Senate Deputy Majority Leader Geoff Michel, R-Edina. "We don't believe he's going to threaten a shutdown or put us into a special session over a tax increase."
Some of the newest Republicans have taken the hardest line against new taxes, fees or gambling revenue.
Senate Assistant Majority Leader Dave Thompson, R-Lakeville, is among several new legislators displaying posters that show a bag overflowing with cash. Above are the words: "It's the spending, stupid. $34 billion. Not a penny more."
Thompson and other freshman legislators have shown a strict devotion to their no-new-revenue campaign gospel. It's far from certain whether they will agree to the kind of concessions needed for the GOP to strike a deal with Dayton.
Many DFLers say Republicans underestimate Dayton's determination to make Minnesota's wealthy pay what he considers their fair share in taxes. Veterans of previous budget battles note that year after year, former Gov. Tim Pawlenty got most of what he wanted in negotiations against a DFL-controlled Legislature, so Republicans shouldn't be surprised to face the same fate.
"If they won't negotiate one dollar of increase, they are basically saying I will have to go all the way over to their position, that I have to give up everything that I believe in, and agree to their budget numbers," Dayton said. "That's not negotiation. That's not compromise."
The stakes are exceptionally high for both sides. Dayton, the first DFL governor in a generation, faces Republicans who control both bodies in the Legislature. Each is determined to leave their mark.
For two years on the campaign trail, Dayton made higher income taxes on higher earners a centerpiece of his agenda. Critics say Dayton's proposed tax tier creeps into the middle class. His proposal would create a new top rate for individuals on taxable income above $85,000, or above $130,000 for married couples. Income below those levels -- even for high earners -- would be taxed at existing rates.
Progress is being made. Republicans finished merging House and Senate budgets on the two largest parts of the budgets, the K-12 education and health and human services. Together, those two areas consume two-thirds of Republicans' two-year $34 billion spending outline -- a number Republicans now say is only tentative.
Over the objections of most DFLers, the Legislature has also agreed to cut $109 million from Twin Cities transit funding, eliminate planning money for high-speed passenger rail and slash expected funding for the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System.
Lawmakers are nearly finished with measures to fund -- and cut -- state government and environmental programs. All those measures are waiting for votes -- and negotiations with the governor.
The question of where to apply the budget blade has been one of the most wrenching issues of the session.
Dayton has some of the best budget minds in the state at his disposal, yet cuts made up a comparative puny part of his budget outline. For all the Republican talk about balancing the books solely through cuts, their first crack at the budget left them $1.2 billion shy, according to nonpartisan state budget officials. They are still trying to close the gap.
In coming days, Dayton could make it wider. He has expressed concerns about the education and health and human services bills. He and other Democrats say the health bill would jettison more than 100,000 poor Minnesotans from the state's health care rolls and slash programs for the disabled to live independently.
"They've now spelled out how drastic and extreme their cuts would be," Dayton said. "They just devastate people's lives, and I'm not going to agree to that. And to think they are willing to do all that so they will not raise a tax on multimillionaires and millionaires by a dollar is such an unbelievably different priority than mine."
Late last week, Dayton offered to take two surprising fishing companions to Grand Rapids for the fishing opener: Republican House Speaker Kurt Zellers and Majority Leader Matt Dean.
Could an agreement take shape on the cold waters of Pokegama Lake?
Dean was coy Friday when talking about the fishing trip.
What about the budget?
"It will probably come up," he said.
The gap between DFL Gov. Mark Dayton and GOP leaders is deep, and they face a monumental to-do list before the May 23 adjournment deadline. Republicans refuse to raise taxes as Dayton insists, but have yet to present their own balanced budget.
The standoff has left few options for an agreement, raising the threat of a special session and a bruising government shutdown.
"The deadline is what forces compromise that wouldn't happen otherwise, so I am still hopeful we can work it out,'' Dayton said Friday. "But there's going to be a lot to resolve."
The two sides remain at least $3 billion apart.
Republicans say they are willing to deal on elements, but not on the overall budget number.
"There's lots of room for compromise," said Senate Deputy Majority Leader Geoff Michel, R-Edina. "We don't believe he's going to threaten a shutdown or put us into a special session over a tax increase."
Some of the newest Republicans have taken the hardest line against new taxes, fees or gambling revenue.
Senate Assistant Majority Leader Dave Thompson, R-Lakeville, is among several new legislators displaying posters that show a bag overflowing with cash. Above are the words: "It's the spending, stupid. $34 billion. Not a penny more."
Thompson and other freshman legislators have shown a strict devotion to their no-new-revenue campaign gospel. It's far from certain whether they will agree to the kind of concessions needed for the GOP to strike a deal with Dayton.
Many DFLers say Republicans underestimate Dayton's determination to make Minnesota's wealthy pay what he considers their fair share in taxes. Veterans of previous budget battles note that year after year, former Gov. Tim Pawlenty got most of what he wanted in negotiations against a DFL-controlled Legislature, so Republicans shouldn't be surprised to face the same fate.
"If they won't negotiate one dollar of increase, they are basically saying I will have to go all the way over to their position, that I have to give up everything that I believe in, and agree to their budget numbers," Dayton said. "That's not negotiation. That's not compromise."
The stakes are exceptionally high for both sides. Dayton, the first DFL governor in a generation, faces Republicans who control both bodies in the Legislature. Each is determined to leave their mark.
For two years on the campaign trail, Dayton made higher income taxes on higher earners a centerpiece of his agenda. Critics say Dayton's proposed tax tier creeps into the middle class. His proposal would create a new top rate for individuals on taxable income above $85,000, or above $130,000 for married couples. Income below those levels -- even for high earners -- would be taxed at existing rates.
Last-minute hustle
Legislators worked into the weekend passing legislation, hustling between floor sessions and committee rooms, trying to patch up their rapidly evolving budget bills so Dayton can see a complete plan in the next week.Progress is being made. Republicans finished merging House and Senate budgets on the two largest parts of the budgets, the K-12 education and health and human services. Together, those two areas consume two-thirds of Republicans' two-year $34 billion spending outline -- a number Republicans now say is only tentative.
Over the objections of most DFLers, the Legislature has also agreed to cut $109 million from Twin Cities transit funding, eliminate planning money for high-speed passenger rail and slash expected funding for the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System.
Lawmakers are nearly finished with measures to fund -- and cut -- state government and environmental programs. All those measures are waiting for votes -- and negotiations with the governor.
The question of where to apply the budget blade has been one of the most wrenching issues of the session.
Dayton has some of the best budget minds in the state at his disposal, yet cuts made up a comparative puny part of his budget outline. For all the Republican talk about balancing the books solely through cuts, their first crack at the budget left them $1.2 billion shy, according to nonpartisan state budget officials. They are still trying to close the gap.
In coming days, Dayton could make it wider. He has expressed concerns about the education and health and human services bills. He and other Democrats say the health bill would jettison more than 100,000 poor Minnesotans from the state's health care rolls and slash programs for the disabled to live independently.
"They've now spelled out how drastic and extreme their cuts would be," Dayton said. "They just devastate people's lives, and I'm not going to agree to that. And to think they are willing to do all that so they will not raise a tax on multimillionaires and millionaires by a dollar is such an unbelievably different priority than mine."
Gone fishing
Despite the sometimes bitter divide, the two sides meet regularly and appear to be getting along well.Late last week, Dayton offered to take two surprising fishing companions to Grand Rapids for the fishing opener: Republican House Speaker Kurt Zellers and Majority Leader Matt Dean.
Could an agreement take shape on the cold waters of Pokegama Lake?
Dean was coy Friday when talking about the fishing trip.
What about the budget?
"It will probably come up," he said.
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