Dayton Cries Foul on Move to Delay Commissioner Raises

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Gov. Mark Dayton is objecting to the state Senate's vote to delay hefty raises for members of the governor's cabinet.

The Senate voted 63-2 Thursday to suspend the pay hikes Dayton granted to commissioners last month. The charge was led by Democratic Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk and supported by Republicans who argued the Legislature should go even further in stopping salary bumps.

Dayton has defended those pay increases as necessary to recruit and retain talented heads of government agencies. The governor's spokesman Matt Swenson said Thursday Dayton didn't know about Bakk's move to delay the raises and strongly opposes it.

The raise rollback was attached to a stopgap spending bill for several state agencies.