Senate narrowly backs pay raise deal, House approves by wider margin

(This post has been updated)

The issue that already divided Democrats at Minnesota's Capitol -- Gov. Mark Dayton's pay raises for his cabinet -- split Republicans on Thursday too, with the Senate GOP strongly against the deal struck between Dayton and Republican House Speaker Kurt Daudt to resolve the dispute.

The Senate narrowly approved the compromise Thursday, in a 35-29 vote that saw the chamber's Republicans in uniform opposition. A few hours later the House approved the bill much more widely, 108-20, with almost no debate.

The bill now heads to Dayton, who said he would sign it.

The lively Senate debate put majority Democrats in the position of defending Dayton and Daudt's deal, which put Dayton's $900,000 in pay raises to 30 state commissioners on hold and restores legislative oversight of future salary hikes, but gives Dayton a one-day window on July 1 to restore the raises.

"We are not stopping these increases. These increases will still go into effect," said Sen. Michelle Fischbach, R-Paynesville. Dayton would not say earlier Thursday whether he intends to restore the raises.

Dayton and Daudt negotiated the deal after Dayton's public falling-out with Senate DFL Leader Tom Bakk over the issue. Sen. Dick Cohen, DFL-St. Paul, stressed that point repeatedly as a succession of Republicans bashed the compromise, and suggested it would be a political liability for Democrats in 2016.

But the support from most House Republicans could defang it as a winning political issue for Republicans. "I want to thank Speaker Daudt personally. He has said we're not going to politicize these issues of commissioner pay for the rest of the session," said House Minority Leader Paul Thissen, DFL-Minneapolis.

Few DFL senators spoke in favor of the raises, though Cohen called them defensible. "State government has lost significant folks of high competence and high quality," he said.