Dayton lays out priorities for session’s final week

As state lawmakers begin the last full week of the 2014 legislative session, Gov. Mark Dayton on Monday offered his perspective at a State Capitol news conference on several issues that are in flux.

Dayton said he wants to sign a bonding bill, but would veto a bill that would eliminate codes that require the installation of fire sprinklers in new or existing single-family detached dwelling unit, as is the case with the Senate’s bonding bill, SF2605.

“As much as I want a bonding bill, I will not have something rammed down my throat,” Dayton said.

Dayton also called for votes on payday-lending legislation and campaign-finance legislation. He urged the Senate to vote on payday-lending regulations that passed the House, HF2293, which he said puts “limitations on what these lenders can do to vulnerable Minnesotans.”

Dayton called on the House to hold a vote on the Senate’s campaign finance legislation that increases disclosure of political spending.

On the issue of allowing marijuana for medical purposes, Dayton said he has concerns about the Senate bill, SF1641, which would allow marijuana to be grown for patients with prescriptions and dispensed at multiple sites in Minnesota. The House last week passed medical marijuana legislation that is more restrictive.

“I think the House bill, with the limited distribution and limited to…capsule form, is much more likely to be able to be controlled and used appropriately by the people for whom it’s intended,” Dayton said.