Incoming Minn. House leaders Thissen, Daudt look ahead to session

State Capitol
Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul, Minn. Sept. 28, 2011
MPR Photo/Jeffrey Thompson

The Minnesota budget forecast released last week shows the state is facing a $1.1 billion deficit. The new Minnesota Legislature convenes in January to start addressing the state's budgetary issues.

Minnesota's incoming Democratic Speaker of the House Paul Thissen will join The Daily Circuit Monday, Dec. 10. Last week, he declined to tell MPR News about his caucus' plan to address the budget.

"The fact of the matter is that we've come through 10 years of both difficult budgets, in terms of the roller coaster effect, but 10 years of austerity and we need to take that into account as we move forward," Thissen said.

Incoming GOP House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt will also join the discussion. He told MPR News his party plans to oppose tax increases.

"We showed that you could do it over the last couple of years," Daudt said. "We dealt with a much larger budget deficit and we feel like what we did over the last couple of years has proven to work well for Minnesota."

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