Dayton Vetoes Agriculture and Energy Bills

Gov. Mark Dayton vetoes two major budget bills before the Saturday night deadline for final action on bills passed before the legislative session that ended Monday.

The first vetoed bill was an agriculture-and-environment budget bill. It contained his initiative to require farmers to plant buffer strips and funding to combat bird flu but it was criticized by environmentalists for other reasons.

Dayton also voted a jobs-and-energy budget bill. He said it provided insufficient funding for the Department of Commerce, the Bureau of Mediation Services, the Workers Compensation Court of Appeals and rural broadband.

A date for the special session has not been set.