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Dayton and GOP wrangle over veterans

Republican party goes in for the attack but Dayton says it lands no blows

July 16, 2010 at 12:25AM

(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

The Minnesota Republican Party Thursday teed up an anti-Mark Dayton attack: he won't give an extra tax break for veterans.

"We think this is outrageous," said GOP chair Tony Sutton, after playing a tracker's video of Dayton saying that he wouldn't approve the tax break.

Dayton, a DFL candidate for governor, hit it right back.

Mark Dayton/SOURCE: Star Tribune file (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

"I knew the Republican Party's distortions would start soon and now they have," Dayton said at a Thursday press conference.

But, as the GOP claimed, Dayton doesn't support the idea of a special tax break for military pensioners. Much more debatable is the party's headline on the news conference notice, which said it had video of Dayton "opposing veterans benefits."

The DFL candidate said that a time of deficits isn't the moment to be giving extra tax breaks to anyone.

"Unlike Republican candidate Tom Emmer, I will not offer tax cut bribes to special groups of people as Rep. Emmer did this week to restaurant servers," Dayton said.

But Dayton said he would do nothing to take away the $750 income tax credit veterans already receive. He also said he would stand by his record of working to increase veterans' benefits and services.

At issue is a proposal to allow Minnesota veterans a state income tax exemption on their military pensions.

In 2007, Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty pushed to exempt military income and pensions from taxes. That proposal would have cost the state $42.3 million when fully phased-in.

Ironically, the GOP tracker captured Dayton's words at an event he held at a VFW hall in Hibbing to promote his idea for a $2 million grant program to allow local governments to better serve returning soldiers.