Governor Mark Dayton is appealing to the Minnesota Supreme Court after a district judge struck down as unconstitutional his vetoes of funding for the state Legislature. Republicans are urging the governor to accept the court’s ruling and House Speaker Kurt Daudt says, “I think we’ve gone far enough now. It’s time for us to put this behind us, roll up our sleeves, and let’s keep working together for what’s best for Minnesotans.”
Dayton says the tax cut bill Republicans passed in May jeopardizes the state’s future fiscal stability. Republicans respond if Dayton didn’t like it, he shouldn’t have signed it. The judge ruled Dayton violated the constitution when he cut funding for the legislature in an attempt to get lawmakers to rescind those tax cuts.
Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka is also asking the governor to reconsider and *not* appeal to the state Supreme Court. The Nisswa Republican says it could ” save the state some money in attorney fees and, because it was such a clear-cut decision, I still hope that we can move on and start building the bridge back and working towards next year’s session.”
More in this interview of Gazelka by MNN’s Bill Werner: