Dayton opposes GOP budget cuts, mum on veto

Gov. Mark Dayton isn't saying he's going to veto a Republican-backed bill that cuts $900 million in state spending, but he's clearly not happy with it.

Dayton told reporters Tuesday that he doesn't support the GOP efforts to take a piecemeal approach to erasing the state's $6.2 billion budget deficit. He said he's also concerned about the provision of the bill that instructs state finance officials to cut $100 million from this year's budget.

"Just to pick a number out of the sky, a nice, round number of $100 million, is again just not supported by any evidence that I've seen," he said. "It creates, I believe, a very unfair mis-impression in the public's mind, that either Gov. Pawlenty's administrators or my administrators have not been performing their responsibilities as they should have been. And that's simply not true."

The House and Senate are expected to vote on the bill this week. It includes cuts to higher education, human services and aid to cities and counties. Republicans say their quick action is meant to reduce the projected $6.2 billion budget shortfall facing Minnesota in the upcoming two-year budget cycle.