Shutdown – DFL Claims Policy Issues End Budget Negotiations [AUDIO]
ST. CLOUD - Democrats are claiming policy issues are the reason why the state's budget negotiations fell apart yesterday (Thursday).
DFL State Representative Larry Hosch of St. Joseph was on WJON this (Friday) morning. He says Governor Mark Dayton offered to take a tax increase off the table, but then Republicans started making demands on policy issues.
Hosch says that's when governor Dayton put the tax increase back on the table, and the negotiations broke down.
Meanwhile, Republican State Representative Steve Gottwalt of St. Cloud says those are all policy issues important to the GOP and it shouldn't have been a surprise that they were brought up.
Gottwalt says he believes Governor Dayton intended to shutdown the government all along, in an effort to hurt the Republican party.