Gov. Mark Dayton presented his plan to attack the state's $6.2 billion budget deficit Tuesday morning, sticking with his pledge to increase funding for elementary and secondary education, while providing relief for property owners and cash-strapped local governments.

Notably missing in documents released by Dayton's office were specifics on his plan to increase the income tax rates for Minnesota's highest earners. And the initial documents provided few details on exactly how the entire budget gap could be closed. While he proposes cutting more than $1.2 billion from the state's health and human services budget, his staff estimates that aid to property owners and local governments would total more than $3.4 billion, which maintains current levels.

As more details are released, Republican legislative leaders are sure to pick them apart, starting at noon, when they plan to hold a news conference.

Here are the documents, as released by Dayton's office.

Protect Low and MIDDLE-INCOME MINNESOTANS FROM PROPERTY TAX INCREASES

Context/Background The property tax is among the most regressive of state and local taxes. Middle-income families pay four times more of their incomes for residential property tax then do the wealthiest Minnesotans.1 Property taxes have been rising rapidly in Minnesota. Since 2002, non-school local government property tax levies in Minnesota have increased by 64.5%.2 One significant reason for this is a decline in state aid to local governments. Since the early 1970s, Minnesota has provided property tax aids and credits to cities, counties and townships to help moderate property tax increases and to ensure that all Minnesotans regardless of where they live have access to police and fire protection and other local services. Since 1977, the state has also provided payments to qualified low and moderate income homeowners and renters to offset some of their property tax expense. In recent years, local government aids have been very volatile, and overall aids to cities and counties have been reduced. Even before taking inflation and population growth into consideration, the total level of property tax aids and credits to cities and counties is significantly lower than in 2002. In reality, the state has exported part of its budget problems to local property taxpayers. For example, local government aid to cities, have seen a 24% decline since 20033 Therefore, cities have been forced to increase property taxes to maintain basic services like police and fire protection. On average, for each $100 million reduction in state aids to local government, $66.7 million –or two-thirds- is passed on to local residents and businesses in the form of higher property taxes. Despite significant property taxes increases over the last eight years, total revenue for counties and cities has not kept pace with inflation, due in part to cuts to local government aid. Governor's Proposal The Governor's Budget recommends $3.469 billion in local aids and credits, with no reductions to local aids and credits from FY 2012-13 forecast levels. Steady funding levels means:  Local governments will have at least two years of stable state payments, and less pressure to increase regressive local property taxes.  Accountability for increased property taxes will rest squarely with local officials.  The state budget will be honest and transparent about where it raises tax revenues, rather than exporting tax increases to local governments. Governor's Funding Recommendation The Governor is recommending $3.469 billion for local aids and credits in FY 2012-13 providing stable and predictable funding to local units of government and slowing regressive property tax increases. Program ($ in millions) FY 2012-13 Payments to Individuals Homeowner Refunds $ 652 Renter's Credit 403 Other 41 General Aids City Aid (LGA) 1,054 County Program Aid 395 Market Value Credits 520 Ag Market Value Credit 48 Pension Related Aids Police and Fire Aids 173 PERA Aid 29 Other Pension Aids 13 Smaller Aid and Credit Programs All Other 141 Total $ 3,469 Achievement Gap Innovation Fund $5.1 million Excellence in Education Award $11.9 million All-Day Kindergarten$33 million Early Childhood Rating System $2 million Keeping our Promises in E-12 Education Context/Background Strong public schools are essential to Minnesota's prosperity and quality of life. Governor Dayton's budget protects state funding for General Education Aids and makes key strategic investments in all-day kindergarten and other strategies to address the achievement gap. All Minnesota schools receive financial support through the state's General Education formula. In addition, a variety of categorical programs provide targeted funding for specific programs and students. In recent years, the General Education formula has been held flat, with no adjustments for increased costs. In addition, payments to schools have been shifted to generate one-time budget savings for the state budget. This has forced school districts to raise local property taxes, cut budgets and increase fees to balance budgets and maintain basic education programs. Ten school districts have gone to four-day school weeks, class sizes have grown, and the average salary of Minnesota teachers is 2% below the national average. At the same time, Minnesota continues to grapple with one of the largest achievement gaps in the nation. Governor's Proposal The Governor's budget invests $14.2 in E-12 Education, or approximately 38.4% of the General Fund budget. ü Increase Funding The Governor's budget increases investment in K-12 schools. It provides targeted funding for optional all- day kindergarten for low-income students and ensures stable funding for school districts during this time of economic hardship. ü Close the Gap, Focus on our Youngest Learners Numerous studies show investment in quality early childhood education improves results. The return on this investment is up to 16 dollars for every dollar invested. The Governor's budget funds an early childhood rating system to improve quality and help parents make informed decisions about early childhood education providers. ü Reward Excellence, Encourage Innovation The Governor's budget creates the Governor's Excellence in Education Award to highlight schools where students are demonstrating extraordinary growth, and to help share best practices. The Governor's Achievement Gap Innovation Fund will encourage innovations around closing achievement gaps through the use of technology. ü Make Plans to Pay Back the Shift The Governor's budget continues the shift in aid payments to schools in the upcoming biennium. The aid payment shift to school districts will begin to be repaid at 10% per year in the FY 2014-2015 biennium. Building a Better Future By protecting K-12 education funding from budget reductions and making targeted investments in our youngest learners, Governor Dayton's budget proposal reaffirms the importance of education to our state's long-term economic success. Minnesota's future workers are learning in Minnesota classrooms today. We cannot afford to leave any student behind because they are the key to our future economic competitiveness. The Governor's budget begins laying the foundation for stronger public schools and a more competitive workforce. HEALTH CARE Background Minnesota has long been a leader in health care innovation, and Minnesotans have benefitted from this leadership. We have some of the best doctors, nurses and health care professionals in the world, and our clinics and hospitals are world-class. Health and human services represents 30% of the Governor's general fund budget and 40% of all expenditures for the FY 2012-13 biennium. More than 80% of this funding goes to provide health care for low-income seniors, disabled Minnesotans, and families with children, and long-term care for elderly and disabled Minnesotans. The Department of Human Services also provides cash assistance for families in financial crisis, for childcare and child support enforcement programs for parents, and for services for people with mental illness and chemical dependency. In addition, the Department of Health operates programs that prevent infectious and chronic diseases and promote clean water, safe food, quality health care, and healthy living. Governor Dayton's budget protects health care services for Minnesota's most vulnerable residents while taking steps to control dramatically rising health care costs, which are crowding out other human service programs and other state priorities like education and public safety. The recent state Budget Trends Study Commission concluded that if this cost growth continues unchecked over the next 25 years, all other segments of the state budget would have to remain essentially flat. Governor's Proposal The Governor's budget maintains $12 billion for health and human services in FY 2012-13, after a net 2.8% reduction from forecast. This includes targeted reductions of $680 million as well as investments of $81 million and another $250 million in provider rate increases to offset health care surcharges. This budget makes difficult reductions necessary to address the state's budget shortfall, while protecting core safety net services and aggressively pursuing reforms to slow cost growth and improve outcomes.  Protect core safety net services for those most in need and slow expenditure growth: The Governor's budget protects health care eligibility for children, and retains coverage for all but 7,200 adults currently covered by public programs. MinnesotaCare coverage for adults with incomes above 200% of poverty is eliminated. The Governor's budget fully funds adoption assistance so neglected children can find permanent homes, and protects core cash assistance programs. It also manages growth in long-term care programs by focusing resources on people with the highest needs. Current caps on disability waiver programs are extended, and rate reductions and stricter eligibility criteria are applied to elderly waiver and alternative care programs.  Share the burden of the state's budget challenge with service delivery partners: The Governor's budget increases Medical Assistance surcharges on providers a net total of $627 million and reduces nursing facility rates by 2% and home and community based service rates by 4.5%.  Restore Minnesota's leadership on health care reform: The Governor's budget jumpstarts Minnesota's Health Benefits Exchange by leveraging federal planning dollars. It also develops a streamlined eligibility system for publicly funded health care programs. The budget continues funding for state health reform activities including the Statewide Health Improvement Program (SHIP) and Department of Health reporting on health care cost and quality. It also offers incentives for health care providers to implement electronic health record technology.  Reform the managed care delivery system for publicly-funded health care programs: The Governor's budget limits managed care administrative costs to the lowest in the nation. It moves toward competitive bidding for managed care contracts by launching a pilot program in the metro area. The budget also creates performance withhold incentives for managed care systems to reduce hospital readmission rates by 25% over five years and to identify payment and care delivery reforms that achieve at least a 2.75% reduction in non-administrative costs. Governor's Funding Recommendation General & Health Care Access Funds, $ in millions FY 2012-13 New Revenues 892 MA Surcharges - Revenues 877 Other Revenues 15 Spending Reductions (775) General Fund (679) Health Care Access Fund (96) New Spending 392 MA Surcharges-Rate Increases 265 Investments 128 Net Spending Changes (383) Net Total Changes (1,275) GOVERNMENT REFORM Background Minnesota needs to transform how we provide residents with the best possible services, most efficiently, at the lowest cost. Improving government efficiency is a bipartisan effort, and one that requires strong partnership between the public and private sectors. Minnesota state government has done some good work in this area, and we need to do more. State agency operations represent just ten percent of general fund expenditures. The other ninety percent of expenditures are payments made directly to individuals, schools, colleges and universities, local governments, and for debt service. More than two-thirds of state agency spending goes toward employee compensation, with the remainder spent on space, technology and other operating costs. Government reform and cost cutting efforts alone cannot solve Minnesota's budget crisis, but this work is a crucial part of a balanced approach to get the state budget back on track. Our future depends on our ability to improve the quality and efficiency of state services while reducing costs. When Minnesota taxpayers invest in our state, they expect to get the best possible results for their dollars. Governor's Proposal The Governor's Budget makes several important investments to improve the value Minnesotans receive for their tax dollars:  Managing for results. The Governor proposes creating a Results Management Initiative to improve state agency performance. Based on the successful CitiStat model pioneered by the City of Baltimore and the State of Maryland, this initiative will drive results through frequent, focused, and data-driven reviews of agency progress toward achieving outcomes.  Expediting regulatory review. Targeted investments at the Department of Commerce Office of Energy Security and the Public Utilities Commission will reduce review time for energy-related utility filings.  Shared services opportunities for the smallest state agencies. The Governor's budget provides resources to the Department of Administration's SmART program to expand a shared services model for providing accounting, budget, and human resources services to agencies that do not have the economies of scale to organize these functions independently.  Reforming health care delivery. In the Department of Human Services budget, the Governor includes reforms to managed care contracting for publicly-funded health care programs. His budget proposes a competitive bidding pilot project for the health plans, and reforms that will pay for outcomes rather than just services provided. Building a Better Future In addition, Governor Dayton has directed his commissioners to accelerate and expand efforts to:  Use LEAN process improvement principles to improve customer service and cut costs. The Department of Administration's Enterprise LEAN program already provides training and facilitation to support this initiative.  Engage private sector partners to increase government productivity and reduce costs. The state already benefits from strong partnerships with Minnesota companies, including General Mills, Deloitte, Thomson Reuters, and many others.  Examine every operational expenditure for savings opportunities. From contracting efficiencies and shared services to better space management, there are numerous opportunities for state agencies to work together and reduce costs. Governor's Funding Recommendation Net general fund impact ($000) FY 2012-13 Results Management $500 Expediting Regulatory Review* $0 Small Agency Support $290