ST. PAUL, Minn. — Republican legislative leaders are disappointed that the Minnesota Supreme Court upheld Gov. Mark Dayton’s line-item veto of the Legislature’s operating budget. After the ruling was posted, GOP House Speaker Kurt Daudt said of the justices, “We had hoped they would end this debacle and they did not.” Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka said he was…
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Mediation sessions between Gov. Dayton and top Republican lawmakers are underway. The Minnesota Supreme Court directed Dayton and legislative leaders to work out a months-long legal battle over Dayton’s decision to veto the Legislature’s operating budget. He says he wants to rework costly tax breaks and other measures but Republicans sued, calling it unconstitutional. The…
ST. PAUL, Minn. — A legal battle between Gov. Dayton and top Republicans could result in a Minnesota government shut down. Attorneys for the Republican-led Legislature say lawmakers will have to start furloughing employees in December and shut down completely by February unless there’s a resolution. Dayton vetoed the Legislature’s operating budget after the session concluded in late May….
ST. PAUL, Minn. — A government watchdog group is trying to get Minnesota lawmakers their first raise since 1999, but a top political leader is trying to block it. A voter-approved council granted the $14,000 raise last fall but House Speaker Kurt Daudt said lawmakers didn’t set aside money to cover it. The Association for Government Accountability is filing…
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota House Republicans are looking at a roughly $45 billion two-year budget. Legislative leaders are considering cuts to some health care programs and state government agencies while drumming up nearly $1.4 billion in tax relief. House Speaker Kurt Daudt has suggested phasing out Social Security income taxes and reducing agricultural property taxes. They could have…
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota Republican House Speaker Kurt Daudt is instructing staff to not issue the $14,000 salary increases recently approved by an independent body. Minnesota voters set the 45 percent raise in motion in November by overwhelmingly approving a constitutional amendment to create a Legislative Salary Council. Though lawmakers no longer have the power to set their own…
