1st Big Vote On 1st Wave Of Minn. Budget Cuts

ST. PAUL (AP) - Gov. Mark Dayton says he is still holding out for a full solution to a projected $6.2 billion deficit as House Republicans push toward a vote on a $1 billion deficit-reduction bill.

Dayton repeated his position on the GOP-controlled Legislature's budgeting bill at a newspaper conference in Bloomington Thursday.

He says anything that fixes only part of the deficit is "just the wrong approach."

Top House Republicans say they plan to work with their Senate counterparts to put the cuts bill on Dayton's desk by early February.

House Speaker Kurt Zellers says it could help the Democratic governor by shrinking the shortfall early on.

Democratic House Minority Leader Paul Thissen says the cuts are "backward-looking" and would push up property taxes and college tuition.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)