Impasse triggers budget meltdown at Minnesota Capitol

Republican legislative leaders made good Tuesday on threats to push ahead with passing their budget bills despite certain vetoes from DFL Gov. Mark Dayton.

Hours after Dayton and Republican leaders traded accusations of bad faith over the budget process and implored the other side to negotiate and compromise, House and Senate GOP leaders decided to go it alone and pass their versions of 10 budget bills.

Dayton has said he will veto all of them and that he won't resume talks with GOP leaders until that process plays out.

The standoff could complicate efforts to craft a new two-year budget by the required adjournment date of May 22. Missing that mark would force the Legislature into special session with a possible government shutdown on the horizon weeks later.

Democrats complained of a power play. "Let's quit the charade," Senate Minority Leader Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, said at one point, urging lawmakers to at least get the tactic behind them so real negotiations could resume.

But House Majority Leader Joyce Peppin, R-Rogers, said the slow pace of talks with Dayton made action necessary. Legislative debate and votes on parts of the more than $45 billion two-year budget were expected to stretch into the night.

"We need to pass our bills and get our work done," she said. We need to show the people of Minnesota that we in the Legislature are getting our work done. And that's what we're going to do today."

The bills Republicans were prepared to vote on cover the largest areas of state spending from K-12 education and health and human services to a $1.15 billion package of tax cuts and a transportation funding measure.

Tax cuts remain the biggest hurdle. The $1.15 billion tax bill that Republicans want is too big for Dayton. Even though the state has a budget surplus that now stands at $1.5 billion, his tax bill proposal is just $300 million. Dayton wants more money to spend on early childhood education, colleges and other budget areas.

Dayton said the decision by Republicans to abandon three-way talks will only make it more difficult to finish the session on time and that the same differences will remain after the vetoes, a point emphasized by House Minority Leader Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park.

"I can tell you one thing for sure," she said, "we will not find an agreement if we stop talking to each other."