The state DFL Party on Thursday renewed its pressure on GOP gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer to release a budget plan and said his statements on a projected deficit put him at odds with outgoing Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty.
DFL state chair Brian Melendez said Emmer has been denying the threat of a deficit even as Pawlenty has acknowledged the problem and taken steps to alleviate a related cash-flow crisis.
"Where does the Republican Party stand?" Melendez asked at a Capitol news conference, as he called on the GOP to resolve a "rift" over budget strategy.
"I don't see a rift," said Emmer spokesman Carl Kuhl, who said that Emmer doesn't deny the potential for a deficit but says it can be averted by cutting spending.
Kuhl promised "a full budget proposal that will balance the budget" by the middle of next week.
Asked if the plan would specify spending cuts, Kuhl said, "it's going to include more details than what we've seen to this point from anybody else." Opponents Mark Dayton, the DFL candidate, and Independence Party candidate Tom Horner have released relatively detailed budget plans.
Later Thursday, campaign manager Cullen Sheehan said the second installment of Emmer's budget plan would be released at a Friday debate.
Melendez, at the news conference, said the GOP was "trying to have it both ways," with Emmer denying a budget deficit and Pawlenty planning to cover a shortage with a plan that could include short-term borrowing.
