SAINT PAUL, MN – Yesterday, Governor Mark Dayton signed the majority of Minnesota’s two year state budget while line item vetoing the appropriations for the state legislature.
Rep. Tina Liebling (Rochester), the DFL-Health Policy Committee Lead, released the following statement:
“Speaker Kurt Daudt and the Republican legislative majority took Minnesota government hostage this week by planting a booby trap in the State Government Finance Bill to “insure” (as Speaker Daudt put it) Governor Dayton’s signature on their bloated, irresponsible tax bill. The unconscionable and unconstitutional booby trap could have ended every function of state government by triggering a shutdown of the Minnesota Department of Revenue if Dayton vetoed the Republican tax bill. In response to the hostage-taking, Governor Dayton decided to pay the ransom by signing the tax bill. He then responded in kind by vetoing the legislature’s entire budget.
“With their irresponsible, dark-of-night decisions the Republican legislature has put Minnesota on the road to future deficits that threaten everything Minnesotans value, including education, transportation, and a health care system that takes care of the elderly and others in need.”
Rep. Liebling is the DFL Lead on the House Committee on Health and Human Services Reform. Rep. Liebling can be contacted by email at rep.tina.liebling@house.mn or phone at 651-296-7173.
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