Legislature Returns to Budget Battle Lines With Lots To Do

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Minnesota lawmakers are returning from a weeklong break Tuesday to start hammering out a budget.

There's some bare bones work like funding state agencies to keep government running for the next two years and avoid the state's third partial shutdown in the last decade. But there are bigger questions of how to shape Minnesota's $40 billion budget and use a $1.8 billion surplus.

Majority House Republicans are aiming for big tax cuts. Gov. Mark Dayton and fellow Democrats who control the Senate are looking for hefty increases for new education programs.

Both sides will spend the next month and a half hashing out their competing priorities. If they can't agree, tax rates and education spending will hold pat at their current levels.

The Legislature has to adjourn by May 18.