The Daily Digest: GOP fractures on how to spend surplus

Good morning!

In Minnesota

The Republican Party of Minnesota is launching a $150,000 advertising campaign to encourage Gov. Mark Dayton and the Legislature to use the state's entire budget surplus to cut taxes. even as leaders in the Republican-controlled House want to use some of the surplus to fund schools, transportation and long-term health care. (MPR News)

GOP leaders in the Minnesota House have also proposed additional spending cuts. (MPR News)

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Minnesotans will pay a slightly smaller percent of their income in taxes by 2017 except for the wealthiest residents, who saw their taxes raised in 2013 as the signature part of Gov. Mark Dayton's budget plan. (Pioneer Press)

 

Two bills that would change how the state’s health insurance exchange operates have cleared initial hurdles in the Minnesota House. (MPR News)

Minnesota's legislative auditor urged state officials on Tuesday to take a bigger role in administering public health programs, saying costs to run them could be trimmed if lawmakers set tighter rules. (AP via Pioneer Press)

What's the rational behind Dayton's plan to cut standardized testing in schools? (MinnPost)

DFL lawmakers are calling for new taxes on railroads to pay for safety improvements along the tracks traveled by oil trains. (MPR News)

National Politics

Hillary Clinton said that she regretted using only a private e-mail address while secretary of state, saying that she sent and received more than 60,000 e-mails in a four-year span but that none contained classified material. (Washington Post)

Angry Democrats excoriated the open letter sent to Iran’s leadership warning about a nuclear agreement with President Obama, but the 47 Republicans who signed it remained defiant and unapologetic, saying the president should have seen their opposition coming. (New York Times)

A top union official put lawmakers on notice that votes in favor of giving President Obama fast-track authority for a pending multilateral trade pact will be used against them in the 2016 elections. (USA Today)

Scientists who are skeptical that the earth is warming due to manmade activity are finding themselves under scrutiny from activists and some liberal lawmakers for corporate ties. (NPR)

The Obama administration said that 11.7 million Americans now have private health insurance through federal and state marketplaces, with 86 percent of them receiving financial assistance from the federal government to help pay premiums. (New York Times)