DFL Gov. Mark Dayton vetoed a GOP-backed bill aimed at the possibility that the U.S. government may not make good on its pledges to deliver federal funds to Minnesota.
"This bill perpetuates one of the majority party's current political stratagems: to raise doubts about the reliability of government," Dayton said in his veto message.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Keith Downey, R-Edina, and Sen. Ted Daley, R-Eagan, required state agencies that receive federal funds to analyze the possibility that funds will be "dramatically reduced or eliminated." It would require agencies "to identify the risks to the agency related to the federal government's potential inability to meet its financial or service commitments."
Dayton wrote in his veto message that the measure is similar to "such attempts as privatizing Social Security and the systematic undermining of public schools" by Republicans.
Dayton said the federal deficit is a serious concern. But he gave legislators a history lesson from his days in the U.S. Senate.
He said when he joined the United States Senate in January 2001, the outgoing Clinton Administration, the Republican Congress and a booming economy "had produced the federal government's first operating surplus in 29 years." Those surpluses were projected to continue, he said. New President George W. Bush "spearheaded not one, but two, enormous tax cuts," Dayton wrote, followed by wars and recession, leading to current deficits of over $1.3 trillion.
"Where were the outcries during the previous decade from legislators, who now tout this legislation?" Dayton wrote.
Daley issued a statement saying the bill was "an attempt to protect Minnesota from the current federal fiscal challenges." He pointed out that the bill was bipartisan, receiving 15 DFL votes in the Senate.
