“Complete non-starter,” says a top Republican at the Minnesota Legislature about Governor Mark Dayton’s proposal to cancel the cigarette tax freeze and undo tax breaks enacted last year for businesses and estates. Saint Cloud Representative Jim Knoblach says, “We’re not going to agree to undo tax decreases that we got through last year and that he actually signed, especially after we’ve had this long fight over it.”
Dayton vetoed the legislature’s operating funds over the issue, sparking a court battle. He responds to Republicans about his budget, “It’s incumbent on them now, who disagree with mine, to propose their own.” House Republicans say in coming weeks they will.