For a start, Dayton and Legislature should finish 2016's work

Gov. Mark Dayton on Thursday reached back to his long-ago days as a ninth-grade teacher to characterize the assignments he'd sent the 2017 Legislature during the new session's opening days. "This is the makeup session," the DFL governor said. His early requests largely consist of last year's unfinished business.

We hope that before May 22 — the adjournment deadline mandated by the state Constitution — this year's lawmaking accomplishments go well beyond leftovers, and that Dayton realizes he will have to bend in the direction of the Legislature's new GOP majorities to serve Minnesota well. But Dayton is right to remind the Republican-controlled House and Senate that some of the work that the 2016 Legislature left behind is now urgent. Traditionally, budget-setting sessions of the Legislature begin with a slow pace. This one should not.

Before the end of this month, Minnesotans ought to see these measures signed into law:

• Health insurance cost relief: Dayton has been calling since late October for a 25 percent discount for Minnesotans who purchase health insurance in the individual market and do not qualify for federal tax credits. Those consumers are seeing steep premium increases this year. Many cannot afford insurance without help — and it must come before Jan. 31, when open enrollment for this year's coverage ends.

Republican legislative leaders say they favor spending state funds for the discounts Dayton proposes. On Thursday, they vowed to send Dayton a bill before Jan. 31.

They also kept up the same litany of complaints about omissions in Dayton's plan that proved to be a roadblock to a special session in November and December. The GOP complaints aren't without merit. For example, they are right to seek to ensure that seriously ill and pregnant purchasers on the MNsure exchange can continue to see their current doctors, even if those doctors practice outside their new policies' networks. But unless such matters can be addressed very soon with remedies that can be quickly and affordably implemented, they should be set aside for action later this year. Premium relief shouldn't wait.

• Capital investments: The 2016 Legislature disappointed a lot of Minnesotans when a dispute over Southwest light-rail transit funding scuttled a $1 billion bonding bill paired with $300 million in cash for road projects. Legislators also risked adding considerable cost to work that must be done eventually. Interest rates are finally climbing again, as are construction costs as the labor market tightens. Inaction on bonding early in this session risks the loss of the entire 2017 construction season for some projects.

If Republican legislators can't stomach a bill that large this year, they should prepare a smaller list of projects they deem most vulnerable to rising costs if they are delayed. A bill composed of those projects should arrive at Dayton's desk well before the frost is out of the ground this spring.

• Federal tax conformity: Urgency isn't as much attached to most of the provisions in the $300 million tax bill Dayton rolled out Thursday. It's a scaled-back version of the tax bill that he vetoed last spring. But one feature — conformity to the latest federal tax law changes — is pressing. Action this month will simplify this year's tax filing for Minnesotans, and will deliver a tax cut for some of them that will total $21 million over the next two years. It would also be a welcome sign that this Legislature is a more functional body than was its immediate predecessor.