Sens. Bakk, Hann interview: The Twitter version

Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk and Senate GOP leader David Hann took questions this morning on MPR's Daily Circuit show. Here's a Twitter version of some of what they discussed.

Taxes

Gov. Dayton's tax and budget proposals continue to grind their way through the Legislature. A rosier budget forecast has improved the state's financial picture, but deep divisions remain between DFL and GOP lawmakers.

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DFL Senate leader Bakk: Lots of anxiety in the business community about biz to biz sales tax proposal.

— MPR Politics (@MPRpolitics) March 5, 2013

GOP Sen. Hann: Biz to biz tax: When you have to add 5.5% on top of your fee it is a killer; MN businesses are going to lose out on contracts

— MPR Politics (@MPRpolitics) March 5, 2013

DFL Sen. Bakk: Despite pushback on individual pieces of Gov's tax plan, "in totality" it's very popular with the public

— MPR Politics (@MPRpolitics) March 5, 2013

DFL Sen. Bakk: States have different ways of collecting revenue; at day's end theper capita tax burden is petty much middle of the pack

— MPR Politics (@MPRpolitics) March 5, 2013

GOP's Hann: MN will probably be in top 5 states re: taxes when governor gets done with us, econ cannot continue to sustain this tax level

— MPR Politics (@MPRpolitics) March 5, 2013

Gun legislation debate

After weeks of contentious hearings over proposed gun legislation, lawmakers have pulled back from outright bans on some weapons. A compromise may be at hand but debate continues over exactly what steps to take.

GOP Sen. Hann: Not the votes for significant change on current gun laws, legal ownership of guns has not been a problem in MN

— MPR Politics (@MPRpolitics) March 5, 2013

DFL Sen. Bakk: Re: gun legislation, I'd support background checks at gun shows but don't know if there's legislative support

— MPR Politics (@MPRpolitics) March 5, 2013

Public money for Vikings stadium

State officials had hoped new electronic pull-tab games would deliver the public money required to help pay for a new Vikings stadium. Recent data, though, show the games have been slow to catch on and may generate only half the money projected.

Gov. Dayton has urged patience but questions linger about what, if anything, should be done.

GOP's Hann: Weak e-pull tabs $$ for Vikings stadium is problematic and Vikes better start thinking about how they come up with more money

— MPR Politics (@MPRpolitics) March 5, 2013

DFL Sen. Bakk: Pull-tab public money concerns for stadium not the Vikings problem

— MPR Politics (@MPRpolitics) March 5, 2013

Higher education

On higher education, Gov. Dayton has proposed spending more, arguing in his recent State of the State speech that "every biennium since FY80-81, real state spending for all of posts econdary education has been higher than it is today."

GOP leaders, though, want to talk about how the schools spend their money Hann said he's been talking to University of Minnesota President Eric Kaler and other higher education officials about costs.

"If you build a cost structure so massive that it can't be sustained, then you have a problem" and that's higher education's problem.

GOP's Hann: Why have higher ed costs grown so dramatically? Faster than health costs. Higher ed leaders don't have good answer

— MPR Politics (@MPRpolitics) March 5, 2013