Dayton still recovering, but feels "clear headed," ready to work

Gov. Mark Dayton said he's heading back to the Mayo Clinic Friday following his prostate surgery last week, but that he's feeling "clear headed, up to speed and ready to carry on with the Legislature over these next two and a half months."

He said he's not taking any pain medication other than Tylenol several times a day.

Dayton then walked out of his office for a signing ceremony for an assistance bill to help the small southern Minnesota city of Madelia cope with a crippling fire that damaged eight downtown buildings in February, 2016.

Dayton took immediately to the issues that have been on the front burner in St. Paul and in Washington.

"We need to get a Real ID bill, and I'm hopeful that we can, given that everybody in the Legislature recognizes the necessity," Dayton said.

He said he would prefer a measure that would allow a "lesser drivers license, for those who don't want to go through the rigors of real ID and also those who wouldn't qualify under those terms, which would include people who are here undocumented."

Dayton said it was imperative first to get bills out of the House and Senate that could be the basis for further negotiations.

The Senate defeated the bill by a 29-38 vote earlier this week, which could leave travelers with Minnesota drivers licenses that don't meet federal Real ID standards unable to board commercial flights and facing some other security hassles.

The governor also talked about health insurance reform efforts as Congress is poised to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

He expressed some doubt about a plan to use part of the state's $1.65 billion surplus to help set up a reinsurance system to help insurers handle some of the most expensive care for Minnesotans. "Having a reliable source of money that isn't going to drain the general fund is important," Dayton said.

He said he'd favor a small fee-for-service system like MCHA, the so-called "high risk pool" the state ran before the ACA.

Dayton said general fund money or health care access fund money wasn't sustainable, particularly with the raucous debate going on over the American Health Care Act, the GOP's proposed replacement for Obamacare.

"Nobody knows what's happening in Washington, including the people in Washington," Dayton said.

But he added that some clarity is needed in St. Paul, as well. "The insurance industry needs to come forward and tell us if they get 300 million a year for reinsurance, what effect is that going to have? Are they going to stay in the market then as a result? Are they going to lower their rates? Keep them where they are? They going to raise them for whatever percent, and if so, give us a ballpark," Dayton said. "We need to know what we're getting for this very significant commitment of public funds."

The shape of that surplus and some greater detail on the state budget will likely come soon. Dayton said his administration was getting new data from the state's finance department today and would have a supplemental budget proposal "late next week."