The state of state government is divided. Partisan division is weakening Minnesota's fiscal health and endangering its future prosperity.
Gov. Mark Dayton did not say that in so many words Wednesday night in his annual State of the State address, the second of his term. He didn't need to. The lopsided reception his message received in the Minnesota House chamber made the point for him.
His spare 25-minute speech to a joint session of the Legislature seems unlikely to change that reality, though his conciliatory tone made clear that he wishes he could. DFLer Dayton pleaded with Republican majorities to join him in making government work better.
His speech was more carrot than stick, highlighting several examples of bipartisanship in education reform and state agency streamlining that are producing positive results, and calling for more.
When he brandished the stick, it may not have produced the effect he intended. Earlier Wednesday, a party-line vote in a Senate committee advanced a constitutional amendment to require a photo ID to vote -- a measure Dayton vetoed when it was in bill form last year.
Constitutional amendments go directly to the voters, without a gubernatorial signature. That explains why amendments rank high on the GOP agenda this year.
Republicans say that, like Dayton's, their top priority this session is job creation. But the executive and legislative branches have divergent ideas about how best to stimulate job growth -- and even on how to time their efforts.
Dayton called for action within a month on a bonding bill and approval this year for a new Vikings stadium. Legislators responded that no bonding bill will surface until mid-March. They didn't dispute Dayton's assertion that many legislators want no action on a new stadium until after the election.
