Dayton releases revised budget plan
Democrat Mark Dayton's new budget plan takes aim at "predatory credit card companies" and MnSCU employees who are earning more than the governor.
But the plan is still $1 billion short of erasing the projected budget deficit of $5.8 billion. Dayton's campaign spokeswoman Katie Tinucci says Dayton will continue to look for new revenue or spending cuts to balance the budget. She said the "worst case scenario" is that Dayton wouldn't immediately pay back the entire $1.2 billion payment delay to K12 schools.
Dayton released the updated budget plan today after a revenue department analysis found his earlier plan didn't raise nearly as much money as he had hoped.
The revised plan isn't dramatically different from his first proposal, but it does attach some specific dollar figures to his earlier ideas and contain a few new wrinkles.
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The key differences are a tax on credit card companies that charge interest rates that are higher than 15 percent and a 5 percent pay cut for MnSCU employees who earn more than the governor (roughly $120,000 per year).
Dayton says his primary goal is still tax fairness.
"I am the only candidate who will not raise taxes on the middle class. We cannot ask them to pay more," Dayton said.
"My opponents will force them to pay more to stay in their homes and every time they buy clothes for their kids. My plan will emphasize our greatest job creation engine, education, and asks those who are most able to help put Minnesota back on a path to prosperity and keep it a great place to live."
Update:
It should be noted that IP candidate Tom Horner acknowledged to me that his budget plan is roughly $1 billion short on specifics. Republican Tom Emmer has offered a budget framework but has not detailed where the cuts would come from. You can read that story here.