Minn. Republicans call for new Dayton budget offer

Republican legislative leaders say that they're the ones who've compromised on the budget and DFL Gov. Mark Dayton has not.

With 10 days until a potential state government shutdown, GOP leaders held a news conference Monday to call on Dayton to resume negotiations with a new, substantial budget offer.

House and Senate leaders argue that Dayton's most recent offer, which reduced his proposed tax increase on top earners by half, did not include sufficient details. Sen. Geoff Michel, R-Edina, said he thinks Dayton is sprinting toward a shutdown.

"July 1 doesn't look like it's an important deadline to Governor Dayton," Michel said. "It's an important deadline to us. We do not believe in a shutdown, We're not using some kind of raw political power move to shut down the government. That's on him."

Last week, Dayton described the latest GOP budget offer as "extremely disappointing," because it didn't budge from $34 billion in spending for the next two years.