RELEASE: House Republicans respond to Governor Dayton's supplemental budget proposal

ST. PAUL, MN—Governor Dayton released his supplemental budget proposal Friday, including more than a billion dollars in proposed tax increases and fee increases on DMV visits to pay for fixes to the failed MNLARS system. House Republican leaders issued the following statements in response to the budget proposal.

Rep. Jim Knoblach, R-St. Cloud, Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee:

"Governor Dayton's budget proposes over a billion dollars in harmful tax increases to finance hundreds of millions of dollars in government spending, and he's asking Minnesotans to pay more in DMV fees to clean up the MNLARS mess created by his administration. Republicans have no plans to ask Minnesotans to pay more taxes when we have a budget surplus. We are pleased with some of his proposals like school safety and funding to help deputy registrars hurt by the MNLARS disaster. We will review his proposals in the coming days, and will come forward with proposals of our own in the coming weeks."

Rep. Greg Davids, R-Preston, Chair of the House Taxes Committee:

"I applaud the governor for indicating he will join most other states in using Federal Adjusted Gross Income—this is a step in the right direction, and encouraging as our discussions on tax conformity continue. In the coming weeks, we will unveil our tax conformity proposal; rather than using tax conformity to raise taxes on Minnesotans, Republicans will focus on holding Minnesotans harmless and preventing headaches for filers next year. Lastly, the Governor knows that House Republicans do not plan on revisiting tax proposals he personally signed into law. It would be irresponsible to raise billions in taxes when we have a healthy budget surplus."

Rep. Paul Torkelson, R-Hanska, Chair of the House Transportation Finance Committee:

"Governor Dayton has repeatedly claimed he is taking responsibility for the MNLARS mess his administration created. Raising DMV fees on hardworking Minnesotans shows he is apparently not serious about backing up those words with action. This proposal is dead-on-arrival in the Minnesota House, and we will not force Minnesotans to pay more to clean up the Governor's DMV mess."

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