Dayton Elevates Education, Transportation As Central Issues

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Gov. Mark Dayton has jokingly described his top priorities for the legislative session as "everything."

But in a State of the State speech Thursday, Dayton made clear that steering more money to education and transportation are atop his agenda. Lawmakers have less than six weeks to finish their session, so Dayton used his address to emphasize key issues.

Specifically, Dayton is trying to create a preschool initiative that would give all four-year-olds access to high-quality programs at no cost to their parents. On higher education, the governor is pushing to continue undergraduate tuition freezes for two more years.

Transportation carries more political division. Dayton wants to raise taxes to support road, bridge and transit work; Republicans want to tap into existing revenue streams and the state surplus.