The Minnesota House and Senate must now work out a compromise on 10 million dollars additional funding for the problem-ridden vehicle registration system, MN-LARS after Governor Mark Dayton said he’ll veto any bill that requires he take the money from existing state agency budgets. Republican Majority Leader Paul Gazelka indicates, given what the governor said about a veto, he thinks the Senate will be able to work with the House on a compromise. Gazelka says, “My goal is to get it through conference committee and onto the floor Thursday so that it becomes law.”
But Gazelka says the governor’s two-dollar “technology fee” for MN-LARS transactions will not be approved. “Anytime you’re looking at any new tax rate now, I think you’re gonna have strong opposition,” he says. Dayton responds, “It’s an election year, so now any funding to improve MNLARS comes out of the General Fund rather than a fee, but so be it.”