Gov. Mark Dayton named Minneapolis attorney and DFL activist Michael Rothman to be the next commerce commissioner and former tax attorney Myron Frans to be his revenue commissioner on Wednesday.

The Department of Revenue is responsible for administering and collecting the state's taxes. Frans, who is president of a company that manufacturs forensic microscopes, will not start on the job until mid-April while he transitions out of his current position. Current commissioner Dan Salomone will stay on in the meantime.

Frans spent many years as a tax attorney with Faegre & Benson before moving to Leeds Precision Instruments, Inc.

The Department of Commerce is the primary state agency responsible for regulating the financial institutions. That includes monitoring banks for risky lending activities, such as those which led to the financial collapse.

Rothman is currently an attorney with Winthrop & Weinstine in Minneapolis, where he specializes in insurance, financial services and various election-related law. He was also one of the attorneys who aided in Dayton's recount.