Dayton blasts proposed amendment for supermajority vote

Gov. Mark Dayton is blasting a proposed constitutional amendment that would require a supermajority vote for future tax increases.

House Republicans said the amendment will be a key piece of their agenda for the 2012 session. During an appearance Monday at the sate fair, Dayton called the proposal the "millionaires tax protection amendment." The DFL governor said it would be impossible to ever pass his proposed income tax increase on top earners.

"To say that people in the future don't have the right to make their own decisions on a majority basis to me is just selfish and short sighted," Dayton said. "And it's going to have the practical effect of keeping our taxes unfair and unequal and allowing the richest Minnesotans to avoid paying their fair share, and I'm dead opposed to that."

The threshold would force the Legislature to focus on redesigning government rather than on raising taxes, said Rep. Steve Drazkowski, R-Mazeppa, the chief sponsor of the proposed amendment.