Dayton Quickly Strikes Down GOP Tax Bill

ST. PAUL  (AP) - Minnesota. Gov. Mark Dayton has vetoed a Republican-crafted tax plan that contained breaks for businesses but would have taken money from the state's rainy day reserves.

The Republican-led Legislature sent Dayton the bill Thursday night and he had a few days to mull it over, but the Democratic governor struck it down Friday morning.

The bill casts a shadow over an impending vote on a Minnesota Vikings stadium plan because some lawmakers suggested they would look more favorably on the stadium package if Dayton signed the tax plan.

Republicans who crafted the bill have argued that freezing a statewide property tax levy on businesses and relaxing some company sales tax rules would motivate new hiring. Dayton and Democrats complained that it would blow a bigger hole in the state budget.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved)