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The process of deciding how billions of Minnesota's tax dollars will be spent was to reach its official starting point Tuesday with the unveiling of Gov. Mark Dayton's budget plan.

Dayton, lawmakers, special interests eye the budget


His two-year budget proposal, expected to be released at 11 a.m., will outline how much he wants to spend on schools, subsidized health care, prison guards, state park management and everything in between. The second-term Democratic governor was submitting the proposal to the Legislature, which has about four months to pass a budget that'll take effect in July.


While the plan will contain more than $40 billion worth of recommendations, the primary focus will be on just $1 billion — the projected state surplus.


Dayton has already described his preference for about $600 million of the surplus. He's proposed a roughly $100 million to make a child care tax credit available to 92,000 more families and about $500 million for initiatives related to school and child social services. He wants another $30 million routed to the University of Minnesota Medical School to help it recruit and retain top-notch researchers.


Dayton's ideas will be in competition with priorities outlined by the Republican-controlled House and Democratic-led Senate.


Majority senators have proposed substantial new spending for pre-kindergarten education and for tuition-free community college for new high school graduates. They also want the state to cover student debt for doctors and dentists that commit to practicing in underserved rural communities.


In the House, Republicans are out with a plan to cut income taxes for small businesses and give tax credits to college graduates who take jobs in certain science and long-term care fields. They also would carve out $200 million from the surplus for spending on road construction and repairs.


In advance of Dayton's budget, House Ways and Means Chairman Jim Knoblach said programs old and new will get scrutiny rather than automatic renewals. Past authorization of programs "doesn't mean they're baked in forever," said Knoblach, R-St. Cloud.


House Minority Leader Paul Thissen, DFL-Minneapolis, needled Republicans on Monday, saying they'll have a tough time delivering a budget smaller than the current one based on proposals from GOP members already bubbling up.


"Republican members are tripping over themselves to spend and spend and spend money," Thissen said as the House was debating a disaster relief package. "The budget you're going to pass off this floor is going to be the biggest budget in state history."

Politics and Government News

The Associated Press

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While the plan will contain more than $40 billion worth of recommendations, the primary focus will be on $1 billion of it. That's the size of a projected state surplus.

Dayton plan brings Minnesota budget debate to starting line

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