Dayton, GOP leaders begin with goodwill

They might have been far apart on the campaign trail, but on Thursday Gov.-elect Mark Dayton and GOP Senate leaders met to look for common ground on resolving the budget crisis and creating jobs.

The half-hour meeting included a show of goodwill. Incoming Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch, R-Buffalo, and Deputy Majority Leader Geoff Michel, R-Edina, brought Dayton a jar of candy.

"My guess is that the new governor is going to get along a lot better with this majority leader," Michel later told reporters, a pointed reference to the often frosty relationship between Gov. Tim Pawlenty and outgoing Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller, DFL-Minneapolis.

"It was a very good meeting," Dayton said.

Dayton said he would consider "streamlining" government regulations over business, a longtime concern of Republicans. The Republicans promised to give Dayton's Cabinet appointees fair confirmation hearings.

"We're not interested in any kind of 3 a.m. shootdown of any names," Koch said.

But the ideological fault lines were never far from the surface.

The two sides "didn't touch much" on taxes in their meeting -- not surprising given the wide gulf between DFLers and Republicans on the issue. Dayton has proposed raising taxes on wealthier Minnesotans while Republicans generally favor cutting taxes.

"I believe there are going to be some principled stands that both sides are going to take on certain issues," Koch said.

Both sides said the Vikings' desire for a new stadium occupied little of their meeting.

But Dayton said he's willing "to be involved, not just be on the sidelines," in finding a solution. He said he would be engaged "from the very beginning" in considering proposals.

He said any bonding to borrow money to build a new stadium would need to be paid off with proceeds from beverage and other stadium sales, not general tax revenues.

"It's a stark picture ..." he said. "It underscores, again, that this is an aging facility."

Michel quickly offered his perspective.

While acknowledging that the sight of the collapsed dome "is dramatic," he said, "I don't think it's any more dramatic, or any more urgent, than the state of our economy."

"Our economy has deflated," Michel said.