Dayton Ready to Drop Sales Tax Overhaul

ST. PAUL (AP) - Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton tells The Associated Press he's '99.8 percent certain' he'll abandon a bid to broaden the state sales tax to service transactions, a key revenue element of his proposed budget but also one that provoked protest from the business community.

Dayton said Friday that a business-to-business component was surely gone and he doesn't want consumers to shoulder the new load. He plans to detail other revisions to his budget proposal next week.

The Democratic governor was banking on the sales tax expansion to also to pay for other program spending and tax breaks. By taxing legal, accounting and other services, Dayton was aiming to raise more than $2 billion over the next two years.

Dayton is standing behind his plan to raise income taxes on the wealthy.