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Capitol View®
Tim Pugmire

Dayton unloads on House GOP, salary flap

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Gov. Mark Dayton meets with a group of Bemidji residents during their annual visit to the state Capitol. Tim Pugmire/MPR News

DFL Gov. Mark Dayton pushed back hard against his Republican critics today, calling them hypocritical on the issue of salary increases.

GOP lawmakers have been up in arms since learning last week that Dayton approved big salary increases for members of his cabinet, even though the previous Legislature approved the action.

Republicans  argue the raises are excessive. A House committee trimmed an emergency funding bill Monday by an amount equal to the additional wages three commissioners will earn through June, and a bill has been introduced to take away the governor’s authority to approve such raises.

After weathering several days of GOP criticism, Dayton told reporters he was surprised to learn that House Republicans recently gave similarly big salary increases to their top staffers.

“That’s my definition of hypocrisy,” Dayton said. “It’s very galling.”

Dayton repeated his contention that the salary adjustments for commissioners were proper, long overdue and necessary to attract and retain top talent. Still, he expects the criticism to continue.

“If this is their revenge for my getting re-elected over their candidate by 100,000 votes, they’ll keep bashing on it,” he said. “As long as they think they can get mileage out of it and avoid the real issues that they got elected to deal with, I suppose they’ll do it. I can’t stop them from doing that, but I’m going to call it for what I see.”

Earlier in the day, the House State Government Finance Chair Sarah Anderson, R-Plymouth, sent another letter to Dayton urging him to appear before her committee next week to discuss the issue.

“Many Minnesotans have expressed concerns over your commissioners’ pay raises, and this would be a chance for the Legislature and the public to better understand your reasoning,” Anderson wrote.

Dayton said he’s willing to meet with Legislators to discuss the issue. But he noted that governors have not typically appeared before legislative committees, and he plans to continue that tradition.

“If I appeared before a legislative hearing every time a legislator disagreed with something I did, I’d be in a lot of hearings,” he said.