Republicans have put a measure in a tax cut bill to encourage Governor Mark Dayton to sign it. They don’t want a repeat performance of last year, when Dayton vetoed a tax cut bill over a technical error and the two sides then couldn’t agree on a special session to fix it. This time around, says House Speaker Kurt Daudt, “If the tax bill does not get signed, the Revenue Department will not get funded. So there is a consequence that the governor needs to think about if he wants to… not sign the tax bill.” Some analysts say, if Dayton vetoed the tax cut bill anyway, the courts would likely declare the Revenue Department, which processes tax payments, an essential state service not subject to shutdown.
Dayton indicated he’ll make a decision on the budget bills by midnight tonight. House Speaker, Republican Kurt Daudt predicts the governor will sign the bills. Daudt says, “Did he commit to signing them? Not necessarily, but I think the work that went into them is gonna be very difficult for the governor to walk away from at this point. And I don’t see things getting easier if he were to not sign the bills and we go into a second special session.”