Republican legislative leaders Monday newly stressed a message with the media: "Legislative Republicans have repeatedly moved toward compromise, Gov. Dayton has not."
Their point is that they've passed their initial $34 billion budget, then they shifted about $110 million in spending and then, last week, they dropped their tax cut proposal and shifted about $200 million in spending.
"It really does make you start to wonder," said Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch, R-Buffalo. "In 90 days, we have seen no detailed budget plan...There is more common ground than the governor would let on with his negotiations."
None of their budgets have moved off of a bottom line $34 billion budget, which DFL Gov. Mark Dayton has said is unacceptable and "extremely, extremely disappointing."
Dayton's initial budget would have spent about $38 billion. In May, he cut that to about $36 billion. Republicans said his May offer couldn't really count because they don't know exactly where he would cut, although he did offer details about his tax proposal, which he also cut about in half.
Dayton has repeatedly said that Republican expect him to move to their $34 billion figure, which he says produces a budget that includes untenable cuts.
"Here I am in the middle and they haven't moved," Dayton said on the last day of the legislative session.
Deputy Senate Majority Leader Geoff Michel, R-Edina, said Dayton should call lawmakers back into special session, rather than "sprinting" toward government shutdown.
If lawmakers and the governor cannot agree on a budget by June 30, the state government will begin to shutdown.
Here's the Republicans new snarky reading of Dayton's May offer letter:
A "HOW-TO": Reading Gov. Dayton's May 16th "Compromise" Letter with Today's Information
