Dayton: No special session, no tax bill
updated at 4:45 p.m.
Gov. Mark Dayton says he plans to pocket veto the tax bill that lawmakers passed on the final day of the 2016 session unless a special session comes together by Monday’s deadline for acting on the bill.
Dayton said again Friday that he won’t sign the bill because of a $101 million error related to charitable gambling revenue. The one-word mistake would make more charitable gambling establishments than lawmakers intended eligible for a lower tax rate.
The larger bill would cut taxes by about $800 million over three years, with specific breaks for college students, middle-income families, farmers and businesses.
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The DFL governor is also standing firm that he won’t call a special session to correct the tax bill error unless legislative leaders agree to his demands for additional spending and bonding.
“I’m not responsible for this situation, and I have a right now to step in and say I have some conditions that I want to see met that were excluded from the final legislative action,” Dayton said. “That’s my role as governor and that’s my opportunity as governor.”
Dayton stressed that he is also open to having a special session after Monday’s deadline for action on the tax bill. He said he cancelled a planned vacation to make sure he’s available next week.
“We can have a special session next Tuesday, next week, the following week, whenever we reach an agreement,” he said.
Dayton invited House and Senate leaders to an afternoon meeting to discuss a potential special session.
But only Democrats are expected to attend.
No agreements were reached in that meeting. But House Speaker Kurt Daudt, R-Zimmerman,
told Dayton in a letter Thursday that he is willing to meet “once you have made a final decision on the 2016 Omnibus Tax Bill.”
said after the meeting that he still believes Dayton will sign the tax bill.
“I think the governor has to sign the tax bill with the things that are in it," Daudt said. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to negotiate other things until we’ve dealt with the tax bill.”
Daudt said another meeting is planned Monday.
Daudt and other Republicans also continue to argue that a letter of legislative intent could serve as a temporary fix to the tax bill error.
But Dayton’s revenue commissioner, Cynthia Bauerly, said that’s not an option in this case. Bauerly said the unintended error in the bill would establish a “clear and unambiguous” definition of a bingo hall if the bill is signed into law.
“We don’t have the luxury of looking at legislative intent because their intent is expressed in the statute,” Bauerly said.