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Capitol View®
Tim Pugmire

House GOP weighs in on Pogemiller prediction

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House Republican Minority Leader Marty Seifert, R-Marshall, issued a news release this afternoon in response to earlier comments from Sen. Larry Pogemiller, DFL-Minneapolis, on the budget and K-12 education funding. Here's the text of the statement:

"I've said that getting Democrats to talk about balancing a budget is like getting a mime to sing. Well, today the mime sang and he's horribly off key."

"It was not a good week for K-12 education at the Capitol. On Tuesday, Democrats launched their first strike at the QComp program and today Senator Pogemiller is talking about cutting funding. I don't think that slashing K-12 funding and dumping quality improvement programs is the right answer to what ails Minnesota."

"Everyone knows there will have to be cuts, but frankly Im shocked to hear a leading Democrat say education should be on the chopping block. It makes me wonder what Democrats are going to hold up as their priorities when they get around to offering a solution of their own. We are more than one month into the legislative session and this is the first time we've heard serious talk about what Democrats might be looking at to balance the budget."

"If they intend to raise taxes and cut K-12 education funding, they should come out and admit it so Minnesotans will know where Democrats in the Legislature stand. I can tell you that as I travel the state, there aren't a lot of people who ask me to raise their taxes and cut funding to their schools."