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Gov. Dayton says he's putting forward a list of state services that he thinks should continue if state government shuts down on July first.  The governor is petitioning a Ramsey County District Court Judge to continue services like the state's prisons, the state patrol and veterans homes.

State government would shut down if Dayton and GOP legislative leaders fail to reach a budget deal by July first.  Dayton said he's still optimistic that a budget deal can get done but insisted that a temporary shutdown is better than the Republican budget plan that cuts funding for higher education, mass transit and health care programs.

"They're better served by a temporary one for hopefully a very limited period of time than they would be over the next two years through the catastrophic cuts in so many areas," Dayton said.

Dayton met privately with GOP legislative leaders for thirty minutes today and both sides agreed to meet again tomorrow.  The two sides are $1.8 billion apart on a budget deal.  Dayton is proposing to raise income taxes on Minnesota's top earners to erase the state's $5 billion projected budget deficit.  Republicans say they can balance the budget through spending cuts.

GOP legislative leaders asked Dayton to meet extensively over the next ten days on the budget.  They said they planned to exchange detailed proposals in spreadsheet form.  They said they'll put forward the first proposal but declined to say whether it would have new numbers in it.

Here's the letter GOP Speaker Kurt Zellers and GOP Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch sent to Dayton.

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Dayton: Temporary shutdown better than GOP budget plan

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