Going into his second term, DFL Gov. Mark Dayton will have new commissioners in two top posts.
Revenue Commissioner Myron Frans will take over Minnesota Management and Budget from longtime finance staffer and commissioner Jim Schowalter, according to documents obtained by the Star Tribune and confirmed by Dayton's office. Frans' deputy Cynthia Bauerly will take over the Revenue commissioner spot.
Frans and Schowalter have been trusted Dayton advisors.
Schowalter, who had also worked in Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty's administration, oversaw the state's budget and finances, through a massive deficit and contentious government shutdown and to its current standing with nearly a $1 billion surplus.
"I have relied heavily on his wise counsel, and the entire State of Minnesota has benefited greatly from his outstanding service," Dayton said of the departing Schowalter. Schowalter, who has been with Minnesota's finance agency for two decades, will become the president and CEO of the Minnesota Council of Health Plans.
Frans is the oft-smiling former tax attorney, who left the private sector to join the Dayton administration in 2010. He worked with the governor on crafting the state's 2013 tax package, which raised income taxes on the wealthy and others, and a large package of 2014 tax refunds and tax credits.
Bauerly, an attorney, only joined the Dayton administration in 2013, after she left her role as a commissioner of the Federal Election Commission. She is well versed in the ways of Minnesota, she has worked with the state's politicians, including now-U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar and earned her bachelor's degree from Concordia College in Moorhead.
"During the past four years, Commissioner Myron Frans has shown his superb ability to manage our State's finances, as Commissioner of Revenue," said Dayton said in a statement.
Of Bauerly, he said: "Her previous experiences as a Deputy Commissioner at both Revenue and the Department of Employment and Economic Development and in federal law, management and policy, have prepared her well to assume these very important responsibilities."
Other than the shuffle in Revenue and MMB few changes among commissioners are expected in the second Dayton administration.
In November, Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board commissioner Tony Sertich said he would step down as did Metropolitan Council chair Susan Haigh. In early December, Carolyn Parnell, commissioner of MN.IT, the agency that manages the technology systems, said she would not stay through a second term.
Here's the full second term cabinet roster, as released by the Dayton administration:
Matt Massman, Department of Administration
David Frederickson, Department of Agriculture
Mike Rothman, Department of Commerce
Thomas Roy, Department of Corrections
Dr. Brenda Cassellius, Department of Education
Katie Sieben, Department of Employment and Economic Development
Dr. Edward Ehlinger, Department of Health
Larry Pogemiller, Office of Higher Education
Mary Tingerthal, Housing Finance Agency
Kevin Lindsey, Department of Human Rights
Lucinda Jesson, Department of Human Services
Ken Peterson, Department of Labor and Industry
Myron Frans, Minnesota Management and Budget
Josh Tilsen, Bureau of Mediation Services
Gen. Richard Nash, Department of Military Affairs
Thomas Landwehr, Department of Natural Resources
John Linc Stine, Pollution Control Agency
Ramona Dohman, Department of Public Safety
Cynthia Bauerly, Department of Revenue
Charlie Zelle, Department of Transportation
Larry Shellito, Department of Veterans Affairs
Photos: Top, Myron Frans, addressing a legislative tax committee in 2013; Bottom, Jim Schowalter, last week, announcing the state had a nearly $1 billion expected surplus/Source: Glen Stubbe, Elizabeth Flores, Star Tribune
Updated