Dayton tax bill introduced at Legislature

State lawmakers introduced Gov. Mark Dayton's sweeping tax overhaul proposal today as House and Senate bills.

The DFL tax committee chairs in both chambers are the chief sponsors, even though neither has endorsed the plan. Dayton is proposing to increase the income tax for top earners, expand the sales tax with a lower the rate, and provide property tax refunds to homeowners.

Republican Senate Minority Leader David Hann of Eden Prairie said he thinks the bill will face bipartisan opposition.

"I have yet to hear anybody be supportive of the governor's plan. I have not even heard any members of the majority actually be universally supportive of the governor's plan," Hann said. "They've talked about it sort of in general as they kind of think there are good things in it, but they haven't really endorsed it. So, I'm curious to see how they treat it."

DFL Sen. Rod Skoe of Clearbrook, who chairs the Senate tax committee, said he plans to begin hearings on the governor's tax plan in a couple of weeks.

"There really isn't any significant surprises from what we've been talking about after the governor's release and the governor's state of the state," Skoe said. "There's stuff to explore and see how it works."

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