Governor's budget faces first committees

Gov. Mark Dayton's budget proposal will get more scrutiny this week from House and Senate committees.

Minnesota Management and Budget officials will present an overview of the spending provisions in the plan Monday morning to members of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Dayton announced a plan last week that would raise $2 billion in taxes to erase a projected budget deficit and increase spending for education and property tax relief.

DFL Representative Lyndon Carlson of Crystal said his committee won't dig as deep into the details of the proposal as will the various House finance committees.

"We will be dealing with the big picture, and we move first when we pass the House budget resolution. So, we have to get the basic background information on the governor's proposal to help us set the budgets for each and every one of those individual committees," Carlson said. The House budget targets will be set in early March. House and Senate tax committees have hearings scheduled this week on the tax reform provisions in the governor's budget proposal.

Republican Rep. Mary Liz Holberg of Lakeville said she's still waiting for the administration to provide more specifics about the proposal.

"We need the details. So, it's really hard to have a comprehensive evaluation of the proposal unless we have comprehensive information, and at this point we don't," she said.

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