Republicans Shoot Down Dayton’s Poison Pill Claim

St Paul (KROC AM News) - The Republican caucus of the Minnesota House is firing back at Gov. Dayton for his decision to veto funding for the state legislature.

Dayton took the action after accusing Republicans in control of the legislature of forcing him to sign a tax relief bill. Dayton claims the Republicans “snuck a poison pill provision” into a bill that eliminated funding for the Revenue Dept if the tax bill was vetoed. Dayton went on to call the Republican action a “reprehensible sneak attack, which shatters whatever trust we achieved during the Session.”

The House Republican caucus responded Wednesday morning, saying Dayton’s line-item veto of legislative funding is unconstitutional because it violates the constitutional separation of powers.

The caucus also says Dayton’s claim that he was not aware of the Revenue Dept provision until he received the bill “false.” The caucus says it “was included in every draft of the Special Session State Government Finance bill shared with the governor’s administration.”

The caucus says the tax bill was also made publicly available online last Wednesday and was sent directly to the governor’s senior staff prior to being made public. The caucus says state Management and Budget Commissioner Myron Frans and the governor’s senior staff discussed the bill language with legislative staff several times and never questioned the provision.

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