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Capitol View®
Tom Scheck

Dayton stresses education in second inaugural speech

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Gov. Mark Dayton was sworn into office for a second term today at the Landmark Center in downtown St. Paul. Standing before an audience of several hundred people, Dayton pledged to make Minnesota what he called a “State of Education Excellence.” Among the policy items he suggested were year-round school as an option and more money for after school opportunities.

“Our future success – the health of our families, the vitality of our communities, and the prosperity of our state – will depend upon our making those excellent educations available to all Minnesotans.  We’re part-way there,” Dayton said.

Dayton’s speech also tried to balance Minnesota’s recent prosperity with concerns that the nation is on the wrong track. He hailed the state’s low unemployment rate and a recent budget surplus with concerns that many Minnesotans aren’t recovering from the recession. He warned about concerns over inequities over the wealth disparity in Minnesota and across the country.

“Perhaps that explains the large divide between the new optimism on Wall Street and the persistent pessimism on Main Street, where real wages and median family incomes have continued to fall, even during this recovery,” he said.

While focusing on education, Dayton said he would say more later about what is expected to be a major topic in the legislative session that begins tomorrow: his plan for spending more money on roads, bridges and transit. He recently said he wanted to increase the wholesale tax on gasoline to six cents per gallon of gasoline and a sales tax of a nickel for every $10 purchased in the seven-county metro area.

Dayton’s running mate, Tina Smith, was sworn in as lieutenant governor. It’s her first time holding elected office. State Rep. Steve Simon, DFL-St. Louis Park, was also sworn in as secretary of state. Attorney General Lori Swanson and Auditor Rebecca Otto also took their respective oaths of office for the third time. All of them are Democrats.

A spokesman for Dayton says 500 people were invited. Guests at the event included former Vice President Walter Mondale, Dayton’s family, his friends and a few state legislators. Two people who didn’t attend Dayton’s inauguration were GOP House Speaker-designate Kurt Daudt and DFL Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk.

Daudt’s spokeswoman said Daudt wasn’t attending the inauguration because he was too busy preparing for Tuesday’s kickoff of the 2015 legislative session. A spokeswoman for Bakk said Bakk didn’t attend because there were “scheduling issues.”

Daudt was invited but he said he didn't attend because the House Republican Campaign Committee had a previously scheduled fundraiser at the same time.

"Literally, it [the inauguration] hit my radar like 48 hours ago so at that point it was a little late to change plans but certainly would have liked to have been here," Daudt said. "But the governor knows that I'm sincere in wishing him a good two years and working with him on all of these issues."

Daudt said he looks forward to working with Dayton on education and other issues, but he's not as eager to increase spending.

"You know, we're spending 30 percent more money on K-12 education today that we were 10 years ago," Daudt said. "If money were the answer, we'd have probably one of the best education systems in the world. I believe we've got the best teachers in the world, but for some reason our achievement gap continues to be a problem. So, I don't think the answer is just money."

Bakk was meeting with potential senate staff candidates during the inauguration, according to a spokeswoman. Bakk was not available for comment.

The president of the Senate, Sandy Papas, DFL-St. Paul, downplayed Bakk's absence.

"I think he's just getting ready for the session. We were well represented. I was here, and the assistant majority leaders were here," Pappas said.

Regarding the speech, Pappas said she was pleased that the governor devoted most of it to education.

"That's a pretty bipartisan issue, education. We can get a lot of buy-in from the Republicans on that," she said. "We've got some great plans for higher ed as well. From birth to life-long learning."

Republicans took control of the Minnesota House in November ushering in divided government after Democrats controlled all of state government for two years. Democrats continue to control the Minnesota Senate.

Here are Dayton's remarks:

MPR News' Tim Pugmire contributed to this report.