Pay raise dispute leads to bitter blowup between Dayton, Bakk

(This post has been updated)

The two most powerful DFLers at the state Capitol had a bitter, public falling-out on Thursday as Gov. Mark Dayton accusing Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk of "stabbing me in the back" amid an ongoing controversy over pay raises for state agency commissioners.

That came hours after the DFL-led Senate voted overwhelmingly Thursday to delay those salary hikes until July 1.

Dayton's rebuke of Bakk at a late afternoon news conference was unusually harsh. It followed Bakk's successful charge on the Senate floor earlier in the day to delay until July 1 Dayton's recent raises, which total $800,000 in additional pay per year to his 23 cabinet officers.

Dayton said he was strongly opposed to delaying the raises, and also said Bakk's maneuver came without warning.

"I'm very disappointed because I thought my relationship with Senator Bakk has always been positive and professional," Dayton said at an afternoon news conference. "I certainly learned a brutal lesson today that I can't trust him, can't believe what he says to me, and that he connives behind my back."

Through a spokeswoman, Bakk released a statement declining further comment except to suggest that he believed Dayton misunderstood their discussions about the pay issue.

Dayton's raises, which total about $800,000 in additional state spending per year, "most likely are warranted," Bakk said in a Senate floor speech. "But I think the challenge is, those of us in the Legislature and the public haven't had the opportunity to have a discussion about how pay has lagged for these department heads."

Under Bakk's amendment, which senators attached to a stopgap spending measure, Dayton would regain the authority to dole out the raises on July 1.

"Might he do it differently? That's yet to be seen," Bakk said.

Bakk's amendment passed 63-2, with just two DFL senators dissenting: Patricia Torres Ray of Minneapolis and Sandra Pappas of St. Paul. Republicans backed Bakk's move, but were unsuccessful in passing a more aggressive amendment that would have yanked the pay raises and Dayton's authority to make them entirely.

"I don't see why anybody in this body would not want to reassert our legislative authority," said Sen. Dave Thompson, R-Lakeville.

House Republicans have also sought to undermine the pay raises in recent days, with that body's version of the stopgap spending bill also including a provision subtracting money from several agency budgets that's equal to the amount those department commissioners got in original pay.

Dayton said if the House adopts the Senate changes to the stopgap spending bill, he will veto it.

Dayton has bristled at House Republican criticism of the raises, noting numerous House employees make similar salaries. He has defended the raises as necessary to attract top talent to his administration.