DULUTH – DFL Gov. Mark Dayton came to friendly ground Wednesday night to kick off a statewide campaign-style sales pitch for his plan to raise taxes on high earners and smokers to increase spending for schools and public safety.
"It's simple tax fairness," he told a feisty, standing-room-only crowd in Duluth. "I believe that Minnesotans will do better and favor a balanced approach."
He began his four-city barnstorming tour as fellow DFL leaders in the House and Senate unveiled separate budget plans that differ significantly on taxes and spending.
Dayton is in a rare and enviable moment in any political career, joined with a Legislature of the same party as they try to tackle some of the state's biggest problems, including how to plug a $627 million projected budget deficit and still leave a lasting mark on state finances. No longer blocked by Republicans' refusal to raise taxes, Democrats are free to raise new revenue and use the windfall to make good on long-sought priorities with bipartisan support such as education, job creation and public safety.
But conflicting priorities between Dayton and Democratic leaders in the House and Senate are coming into focus during these dramatic and high-stakes final weeks of budget negotiations.
Rather than lining up behind Dayton's plan, Senate DFLers unveiled their own proposal Wednesday to raise $1.4 billion in new taxes. Among their top goals: Return a giant share, about one-third, to taxpayers in the form of property tax relief.
"Property tax relief can't come soon enough for Minnesota families," said Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook.
House Democrats released their own plan on Tuesday, calling for a historic income tax surcharge that would speed repayment of more than $850 million owed to public schools. The temporary tax hike on those netting more than $500,000 a year — the top 1 percent of all Minnesota tax filers — would slingshot Minnesota's income tax rate into the the realm of the three highest in the nation.