Mark Urges Legislature to Raise Taxes on Millionaires to Pay for Better Schools

Mark Dayton Urges Legislature to Raise Taxes on Millionaires to Pay for Better Schools

I recently drove over 9000 miles through all 87 Minnesota counties.  I saw the damaging effects of education funding cuts everywhere.  Too many classrooms are terribly overcrowded.  In Rochester, there are 36 children in a fifth-grade classroom in a school where children speak 17 different languages!  A third-grade class in St. Louis Park has 31 children.

In Willmar, a fourth-grade teacher has to ask parents to buy crayons for their children, because the school couldn’t provide them.  Teachers in several different schools were told at the beginning of the school year to download necessary course materials from the internet, because there weren’t funds for new textbooks.  (Since that’s probably illegal, I’ll withhold the names.)

Some Minnesota school districts can now afford to provide school only four days per week, due to lack of funds.  Other districts are considering cutting back to four-day school weeks next fall.  That’s only permitted in a few other states, including rural Louisiana.  Great.  Now our state’s education policy is following in the footsteps of rural Louisiana!

Minnesota has the 11^th highest per capita income, relative to the other 49 states and DC.  Yet we rank 34th among the states in spending for elementary and secondary education per $1000 of personal income.  Our teacher-student ratio ranks between 33^rd and 46^th, depending on the grade.   And our average teacher’s salary is almost $2000 below the national average.

Our state’s support for higher education has similarly declined.  We rank 35th among the states in expenditures for higher education.  Tuition for our public two-year colleges is the third highest in the nation; for four-year universities it is in the top-ten.  State support for the University of Minnesota amounted to two-thirds of educational costs twenty years ago.  Today, it’s less than half.

We in Minnesota pride ourselves on our commitment to education.  We know how important the best public education systems have been to our citizens in their individual successes and to our state’s social and economic vitality.  Yet we are no longer putting our money where our values are.

As a result of those rising tuitions, college students are graduating tens of thousand of dollars in debt.  Others can’t even afford to go to college in Minnesota. A steelworker has to send his son to college out of the state, because they can’t afford the University of Minnesota.   There’s something terribly wrong, when hard-working Minnesotans can’t afford to send their children to their own state university.

Those funding crises have been caused by Governor Pawlenty’s insistence on reducing state support for education.  During the past seven years, state education aid has been cut by an average of over $1400 per student in kindergarten through twelfth grade.  As a result, more and more school districts have had to go to voters for property tax referendums just to pay for operating deficits.  That is inherently unfair and unequal for everyone.  The property tax is the most unfair tax, since it must be paid, regardless of a worker’s, farmer’s or senior citizen’s income.

Those referendums are also unfair for students, their parents, and their teachers.  In some districts, they pass, and those students are temporarily spared further damage to their educations.  However, in other districts they fail, and those students are penalized with further loss of educational opportunities.

In the Cambridge-Isanti School District, I was told that the School Board has had to cut funding, lay off teachers, increase class sizes, or eliminate academic courses every year during the past decade.  In their schools, as in hundreds more throughout Minnesota, there is nowhere to continue to make those kind of disastrous funding reductions.

Meanwhile, according to the Minnesota Department of Revenue, the richest 1% of Minnesotans, who enjoy average incomes of over $1.2 million per year, get away with paying only two-thirds of their proportionate share of incomes in state and local taxes, compared to the rest of Minnesotans.  That’s wrong; it’s unfair; and our school children are being hurt by this regressive tax system.  It’s time the Governor and the Legislature placed the needs of Minnesota’s school children ahead of tax breaks for millionaires.

The current legislative session provides them with this opportunity. They should increase the state income tax on people making over $1 million per year, and dedicate that money to restoring some of the cuts they have made in state education aid for Minnesota’s students.

The Legislature should take the lead by passing such a tax bill and sending it to the Governor for his signature.  If he vetoes it, they should send him another bill, and another one, and anther one.  If he vetoes them all, he will prove to Minnesotans that he would rather protect tax breaks for millionaires than provide better educations to school children.

Mark Celebrating Earth Day with Students at Isanti Primary School!

Mark Completes 87 County Tour in 87 Days! (4/16)

Mark’s Statement on Completing the 87 Counties in 87 Days Tour

April 16, 2010

“During the past 87 days, I have driven over 9000 miles through all 87 Minnesota counties.  I have received a terrific education from the best possible teachers, the people of our great state.  I am grateful to all who shared their lives, their problems, their ideas, and their wisdom with me.  They have added to what I already knew from my 35 years of public service in Minnesota, during which I have probably been to more counties, more often, than all of the other candidates for Governor combined.

I am also grateful to the leaders and staff of AFSCME MN Council 5, the Teamsters Joint Council 32, and the United Steelworkers Local 7263, who helped organize meetings with their members throughout the state.  I want to thank my excellent campaign staff, led by the best Campaign Manager in Minnesota, Dana Anderson, and our many interns and volunteers, who made over 20,000 phone calls inviting Minnesotans to our county meetings.  And I want to especially thank my Deputy Campaign Manager, Katie Tinucci, and Deputy Policy Director, Will Dolan, who drove those 9000 miles of deteriorating Minnesota highways with me.

What have I learned during the past 87 days?  First, that people who have jobs are worried, and people who don’t have jobs are desperate.  There are 200,000 more people living in Minnesota today than there were, when Tim Pawlenty became Governor; however, 28,200 fewer people are working.  Fewer jobs and unfair taxes are the main reasons Minnesota’s budget is in crisis.  And they are the main reasons Minnesota’s families are in crisis.

On the Iron Range, one 46 year-old woman and her husband lost their small business and thus their jobs; they are now forced to live in the basement of her parents’ home.  In Hutchinson, a single woman in her fifties told me in tears that she had just lost her job and thus, her health insurance.  Another woman in Chaska spoke of applying for over 500 jobs during the past two years and being turned down for all of them.  “People look down on me, because I’m unemployed,” she told me.  “But I want to work.”

Young people are also hit hard by the lack of jobs.  One young man in Minneapolis called his search for a job “brutal.”  A single mother in Marshall said she had just returned there after getting her undergraduate degree at Minnesota Southwest State and her Masters at the U.  She owes $100,000 in student loans and has no job prospect.

Those Minnesotans and the over 219,000 more who are also unemployed are the reasons I will go anywhere in this state, nation, or world, at anytime, to add or bring jobs to Minnesota.  When I learned from the Mayor of Thief River Falls that he was unable to get MNDOT to install a stoplight on a state highway where the nearly 4000 employees of Digi-Key and Arctic Cat drive to and from work every day, I met with Digi-Key executives to assure them that, if I’m Governor, a stoplight would be in a bonding bill next year.  I told them that the day after I signed the bill, I would come to Thief River Falls with a shovel and begin digging myself!  I also discussed with them the additional state support necessary for their further expansion in Thief River Falls.  That’s the kind of economic development I’ll spearhead, as Minnesota’s next Governor.

Secondly, I learned that the Republican claim of “No Tax Increase” is a myth.  Most Minnesotans’ property taxes have increased significantly during the past seven years.  Many homeowners and small business owners have been hit with double-digit property tax increases in just the past year.  One farmer in Roseau County showed me his property tax statement, which was 250% more than a year ago.  Many senior citizens told me that they were struggling to stay in their homes, because they could not afford ever-rising property taxes on their limited and fixed incomes.

At the same time, essential local government services have been slashed, due to Local Government Aids being cut in half during the past seven years.  In International Falls, city officials reduced their property tax levy by 16% after being promised by Governor Pawlenty in 2006 that he would not touch LGA.  Just two months ago, the City Council was forced to raise its levy by 17% to make up for the Governor’s broken promise.

Several self-described Republican Mayors attended my community meetings to tell me that their trust and financial relationships with the Governor and the Legislature had been shattered by the drastic cuts in Local Government Aids.  Especially in rural Minnesota, where property values are lowest, cities, counties, and townships depend upon state aids to provide their citizens with essential services, like police and fire protection.  As one woman in Ada said to me, “You should be glad that we can still afford to live in Greater Minnesota.  If we all had to move into the Metro area, it would take you two hours to drive from Minneapolis to St. Paul, instead of one hour!”

One Republican Gubernatorial candidate has called for the elimination of Local Government Aids.  He clearly hasn’t seen what I’ve seen.  He clearly doesn’t know what local officials are really experiencing.  He clearly doesn’t know how many senior citizens and other Minnesotans are struggling to stay in their homes, due to rising property taxes.

The property tax is the most unfair state or local tax.  It has to be paid, whether someone has a job or an income, whether a farm or a business is making a profit.  Governor Pawlenty and Republican legislators want to protect the richest Minnesotans from paying their fair share of taxes.  I want to use progressive state taxes to keep property taxes affordable for the rest of Minnesotans.

I also heard again and again that the cost of health insurance has become unaffordable for more and more Minnesotans.  And more people with health insurance cannot afford the cost of their health care, due to increased deductibles and co-pays.  Kasson’s newspaper editor told me that his daughter could not have a necessary MRI and likely knee surgery, because he could not afford the out-of-pocket costs.  A Maple Grove couple with three children pay $14,000 per year for their health insurance; yet they still have to pay the first $1500 per person, or up to $7500 for their family of five, before their insurance kicks in a single penny.  A St. Paul man pays over $7000 per year for his family’s health insurance; however, with a $10,000 deductible, he has to pay the first $10,000 for his family’s health care each year, before his insurance pays a single nickel.  These rip-offs are why I continue to support national single-payer health care, and why, as Governor, I will champion its progress here in Minnesota.

Governor Pawlenty’s cuts in state education funding, which average over $1400 per student in K-12, have had devastating effects on public schools throughout Minnesota.  I visited one fifth-grade class in Rochester, which had 36 children with only one teacher.  Many other elementary classrooms are as overcrowded.  Several school districts have cut back to four-day school weeks due to lack of funding, and more are considering similar reductions next year.

If I’m Governor, I will end four-day school weeks and increase state funding so they won’t be necessary.  That position is not universally popular.  One teacher in Warroad told me everyone there “loves” four-day school weeks.  However, when I asked her what happened to the children on the weekday when most of their parents are working, she could only say that the Superintendent was “considering” starting a day care.

That’s not good enough.  And providing school only four days per week is not good enough to give our children the best possible educations they will need to be successful in a highly competitive global economy.

Similarly, the cuts in state funds for the University of Minnesota and MnSCU’s campuses and the resulting increases in tuitions and fees have made them unaffordable for many Minnesota families.  One mother in Duluth introduced me to her son, who has to attend a community college in Wisconsin, because he and his parents cannot afford the costs at the University of Minnesota Duluth.  An employed steelworker similarly told me that his son has been forced to attend college in another state, because he cannot afford the U.  It’s terrible, when hardworking Minnesota families cannot afford to send their children to their state’s own colleges and universities.

That is why I have promised to increase state funding for public education every year I am governor.  No exceptions.  No excuses.  Some people say we can’t afford to do it.  I say we can’t afford not to do it.  Our children are our future.

I have learned much more that time does not permit me to share with you today.  All of those lessons will become integral parts of my campaign and, more importantly, my administration, if I am elected Governor.  I know now, even more than before, that most Minnesotans want a new direction and a better future for our state.  They want what my campaign promises: A Better Minnesota.”

Mark Concludes Statewide Tour of All 87 Minnesota Countes in 87 Days!

Mark Dayton Concludes Statewide Tour of all 87 Minnesota Counties in 87 Days

After 87 Counties, 9,067 miles, and countless real conversations with Minnesotans, DFL Candidate for Governor Mark Dayton concluded his ‘87 Counties in 87 Days’ tour with his final stop in Washington County.  The tour started on January 20^th with a rally at the State Capitol in St. Paul.

“During the past 87 days, I have driven through all 87 Minnesota counties. I have received a terrific education from the best possible teachers, the people of our great state,” said Mark Dayton. “I am grateful to all who shared their lives, their problems, their ideas, and their wisdom with me.”

Holding open to the public events across the state, Dayton was able to hear first-hand how Governor Pawlenty’s policies have failed Minnesota.  On the Iron Range, Mark learned about one 46-year old woman and her husband who lost their small business and are now forced to live in the basement of her parents’ home. In Marshall, a young single mother with a Master’s Degree from the U told Mark the story of how she is now $100,000 in debt and cannot find a job. Mark also visited overcrowded classrooms in Rochester and heard from teachers coping with educating our children within a four-day school week.

“As Governor, I will end four-day school weeks and increase state funding so they won’t be necessary,” said Dayton. “Providing school only four days per week is not good enough to give our children the best possible educations they will need to be highly successful in a highly competitive global economy.”

The ’87 Counties in 87 Days’ tour added to what Mark Dayton already knew from his 35 years of public service in Minnesota, during which he has probably been to more counties, more often, than all of the other candidates for Governor combined.

“I know now, even more than before, that most Minnesotans want a new direction and a better future for our state,” said Dayton. “They want what my campaign promises: A Better Minnesota.”

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Dayton Supports Veterans Project, Vows to Fund Cities, Education (Sauk Centre Herald)

Dayton supports veterans project, vows to fund cities, education

By Bryan Zollman

Sauk Centre Herald, April 11, 2010

Mark Dayton made a whistle stop in Sauk Centre last Tuesday on his 87 counties in 87 days campaign for Governor. Dayton stopped by the Sauk Centre Herald office before jettisoning around Central Minnesota.

Dayton, a former U.S. Senator from Minnesota, touched on the Valley Forge Village Project, Local Government Aid and education funding.

“The Valley Forge Veterans project would be a good cornerstone in this state for returning war veterans,” Dayton said. “This project could be the foundation for what we’re doing in Minnesota for our veterans.”

Dayton visited the site of the proposed project (the former Minnesota Correctional Facility) on March 16 during another stop in Sauk Centre.

“That facility is something,” he said. “We could get the state behind it.”

Local Government Aid

Governor Tim Pawlenty has cut Local Government Aid almost in half, leaving small cities and towns faced with the prospect of cutting services or raising taxes. Dayton supports local government aid and would work to reestablish the state’s funding of local governments.

“If were’ going to make a living in Greater Minnesota affordable you have to have the local government aid and county aid,” he said. “We need everyone everywhere in the state to be thriving. LGA is essential to that.”

Dayton also touched on education. On the eve of his visit the local school board discussed cutting programs and teachers in their next wave of cuts to keep pace with the increasing cost of education with no increase in funding at the state level. Dayton said education is a big concern, especially with some districts considering moving to a 4-day school week in order to make it more affordable.

“If we don’t make kids get out of bed at least five days a week they’re not going to learn the work ethic they need,” he said. I promise I will raise education funding every year while I am governor.”

How does Dayton plan to afford to fund cities and schools in rural Minnesota?

By taxing Minnesota’s wealthiest citizens. He said the top 1 percent of individuals who earn $1.2 million and up annually only pay two-thirds of the percentage of income middle-income residents pay. The top 10 percent, who earn a minimum of $310,000 annually, pay just three-fourths of the percentage middle-income residents pay.

“The starting point is to make taxes fair,” Dayton said. “I would raise taxes on the rich.”

His tax increases would generate roughly $4 billion in revenue.

Dayton is pushing for a “better Minnesota” – his campaign slogan. He has served as Commissioner of the Minnesota Departments of Economic Development and of Energy and Economic Development, as State Auditor and as United States Senator. He says he takes a pragmatic approach to politics.

“I’m very eclectic,” he said. “I’m for whatever works.”

Mark Dayton Shows Why He’ll Be Formidable DFL Primary Opponent (MinnPost)

Mark Dayton, in attack mode, shows why he’ll be a formidable DFL primary opponent

By Doug Grow

MinnPost, April 14, 2010

Former U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton  is showing just why he will be a formidable primary opponent for whichever DFLer comes out of next week’s convention with the party’s endorsement.

Dayton, who is bypassing the entire endorsement process, held a news conference Tuesday morning to talk about the need for Minnesota to re-apply for federal Race to the Top education funding. But mostly what he did was tear into Gov. Tim Pawlenty with a gusto seldom shown by DFLers in recent years.  Most of the DFL candidates have been less confrontational in dealing with Pawlenty, who they see as a Teflon-coated pol.

While he was blasting Pawlenty,  Dayton surely picked up friendships among members of Education Minnesota, which has been Pawlenty’s punching bag of choice. Even some DFLers have been lobbing a few shots at the teachers union this year.

The union, it should be noted, has not yet endorsed a gubernatorial candidate, a fact that certainly hasn’t escaped Dayton’s notice.

Dayton said the governor’s threats not to resubmit Minnesota’s Race to the Top bid unless the Legislature passes bills that he wants – ones that Education Minnesota opposes – show that Pawlenty “is busy running for president instead of worrying about the education of our children.”

A few hours after Dayton laid the whole Race to the Fund failure at Pawlenty’s feet, DFL legislative leaders and the governor met to discuss what needs to be done to get back into the competition for the federal cash. The tone of that meeting was dramatically different from Dayton’s tone.

“This governor doesn’t care,” Dayton said. “He’s just running for president. … To pin this [the failure of the first Race to the Top application] on teachers is irresponsible. He goes around preaching how people should be accountable. Everybody’s supposed to be accountable except himself.”

Step back a moment.

Two Mark Daytons?

Sometimes it seems there are two Mark Daytons. There is the Dayton who stumbles as a public speaker. But then, there’s the Dayton who is passionately focused. Throughout this campaign so far, the focused Dayton has been on display. You may not like his message, but it’s sure not hard to understand.

The Tuesday morning briefing was a classic example of the on-point candidate.

He came to praise teachers and bury Pawlenty, and he did both.

Minnesota failed in its first submission for Race to the Top Funding, he said, because “the New York consultants”who wrote the first application for the Department of Education, didn’t emphasize the right things about Minnesota education.

Much, for example, has been made of the state losing 11 points on the federal application because it doesn’t have an alternative licensing procedure to bring new teachers into the system. In fact, Dayton said, Minnesota does have alternative licensing processes that do allow for people with non-traditional education backgrounds to end up in the classroom. St. Paul, he noted, has 40 people from the much-praised Teach for America program in its classrooms.

“That we need a new law is the governor’s fictional claim,” Dayton said.

Instead of demanding changes in law, Pawlenty should be working with all education stakeholders, including Education Minnesota, he said.

In Pawlenty’s nearly eight years in office, Dayton said, funding to K-12 education has fallen “in real dollars” by $1,400 per pupil.

“I’ve been all over the state,” said Dayton, “and they’re laying off teachers everywhere because of drastic funding cuts. … I recognize that you teach through teachers. They have a stake in this.”

He kept ripping on the gov. Minnesota, he said, has the 11th-highest per-capital income in the country but, during the Pawlenty years, teachers’ salaries have fallen below the national average.

And he kept pounding on the theme that Minnesota must re-apply for Race to the Top funding to help make up for education funding lost in the Pawlenty years.

“Instead of courting Republican voters in Iowa and New Hampshire, the governor needs to return home and get down to the hard work that will place Minnesota’s schools back on the right track.”

While Dayton was throwing big, roundhouse punches, other candidates were doing more understated things.

Kelliher and Seifert pick up high-profile support

House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher,  for example, landed the prestigious support of former Vice President Walter Mondale, who will be co-chair of her campaign. She also announced endorsements from two more House colleagues – Erin Murphy of St. Paul and Maria Ruud of Minnetonka.

Sen. John Marty,  meanwhile, proudly was pointing out that the Duluth City Council had passed a resolution, supporting his universal health care plan.

On the Republican side of the divide, Rep. Marty Seifert  also received a substantial endorsement, picking up the support of former Gov. Al Quie. It’s hard to know, though, just how important that will be to the super-conservative elements of the party that both Seifert and Rep. Tom Emmer  are trying to attract in their bid for endorsement.

But it was Dayton who stood out Tuesday, as he lavished praise on teachers and, indirectly, their union. He promised that in a Dayton administration, K-12 funding would increase each year.

How would he pay for it?

“Tax the rich,” he said.

That, of course, has been his virtual slogan – and big applause line — since he entered the race. That may not be so popular a line in November, but right now, Dayton’s aiming everything he’s got at that smaller segment of the population that will vote in the August primary.

Dayton said he will stop by the DFL convention in Duluth next week “to shake hands and see old friends,” but he will play no official role.

He can’t throw the lavish party that he often throws on the Saturday night of state conventions.  Those parties, where liquor, food and entertainment all are free, delight DFL delegates.

But Dayton said he checked with Minnesota Campaign Finance officials, who said he would be in violation of state law if he threw the bash this year while an active candidate.

“It would be like buying votes,” he said. “I’m sure, if they had a choice, a lot of DFLers would prefer that I’d throw the party instead of being a candidate.”

Mark Dayton’s Statement on “Race to the Top”

Mark Dayton’s Statement on “Race to the Top”

April 13, 2010

Gov. Pawlenty has typically blamed others for his Administration’s failed application for federal “Race to the Top” education funding.  Our analysis shows that is untrue.  The blame belongs primarily on his failed education policies and his Department of Education’s failure to submit a decent application.

The Pawlenty Administration did not even prepare its own application.  Instead it outsourced the job to a New York-based consulting firm, at a cost of $500,000.  $100,000 came from federal stimulus money, which the Governor likes to criticize while he’s using every penny he can for his own purposes.  That money should have been spent to hire additional classroom teachers.

The other $400,000 came from three foundations – money that could have been far better used for genuine education innovation, rather than to make up for the state Department of Education’s inability to do its own work.

The Governor has tried to pin the blame the application’s failure on Education Minnesota.  In fact, however, only 13% of the points lost were due to the lack of local teachers organizations’ support.  The other 87% were due to such factors as the Lack of a Strong Implementation Plan, the Failure to Close the Achievement Gap, and absurdly, the failure to follow basic instructions and the illegibility of key supporting documents.

For example, the instructions called for the appendix to total no more than 250 pages.  The State’s application had 1363 pages of appendices!

This week Minnesota’s 4^th Graders are taking the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment test.  If they fail to follow instructions, they fail the test.  The MN Department of Education’s $500,000 application failed that elementary requirement.

Furthermore, the U.S. Department of Education found that, “The quality of the State’s NAEP data is poor. The graphs range between hard to impossible to read.”

Elsewhere it said, “There is little evidence of achievement gap reduction.”

In other words, it is Governor Pawlenty and his Administration who failed this test, not Minnesota’s schools or teachers.  The U.S. Department of Education summed up the Governor’s failure: “There is little evidence that the majority of students are better off today than they were a decade ago.”

I urge the Governor to reapply for the $175 million in federal “Race to the Top” funds that are still available for Minnesota.  In the wake of his drastic cuts in state funding for public education, which has averaged over $1400 per pupil in K-12 during the past seven years, that federal money is desperately needed.  I urge the Minnesota Department of Education to do its own job of preparing and submitting the state’s application.  And I urge the Governor and his Education Department to work in partnership and cooperation with Education Minnesota, the MN School Board Association, School Superintendents, Principals, and other stakeholders.

Unfortunately, Governor Pawlenty shows every sign that he is more interested in political “blame games” and wooing support for his presidential aspirations from anti-public school right-wing zealots, than he is with improving the quality of Minnesota’s public education.  That must end.  Our state’s public schools have already suffered too much from the Governor’s neglect.  Our school children need and deserve his support.

Especially the students, who are falling farthest behind.  Minnesota’s “achievement gap” remains shamefully large; and, as the U.S. Department of Education noted, it has not improved.  In fact, it has grown worse.  This “Race to the Top” application provides an opportunity to fund new strategies that will close that gap.

For example, the St. Croix and Lakeville School Districts use one-minute reading-out-loud tests at the beginning of the school year to identify elementary school students, who are reading below grade level.  An individual reading improvement program is then designed for each child.  About 85% of the students who continue with that program end the school year reading at or above grade level.  “Race to the Top” money could be used to implement that kind of life-transforming program in every Minnesota public school.

Minnesota has the best, most dedicated group of public school teachers in the country.  Their expertise and their knowledge of what our schoolchildren need are invaluable resources that we should embrace – not reject, as this Governor has.

Minnesota needs a Governor who will view teachers, parents, and administrators as equal partners in our education future.

Minnesota also needs a Governor who will increase state funding for public education.  I have pledged that I will increase state funding for our K-12 students every year I am Governor.  No exceptions.  No excuses.

Mark Dayton Visits Park Rapids on State Tour

Mark Dayton visits Park Rapids on state tour

Anna Erickson, Park Rapids Enterprise

April 10, 2010

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mark Dayton visited with about a dozen constituents Wednesday morning in Park Rapids. Hubbard County was the 84th county he visited on his 87-county tour across Minnesota.

The morning meeting at Bella Caffé focused on taxes, health care and education.

“I’m all ears, I find I get some of my best information by listening to others,” Dayton said.

He is not seeking the DFL endorsement at the state convention. He explained that he will run in the primary election Aug. 10.

“I’m disqualified from being considered for the endorsement because I won’t promise to stop my campaign if I’m not endorsed,” Dayton said.

He thinks that all voters should have a chance to decide who will be on the ballot in November.

Constituents who gathered with Dayton asked him what he thought about Governor Pawlenty proceeding with a lawsuit against the federal government against the health care bill.

The former U.S. senator said he doesn’t think the governor has any grounds to sue.

“I don’t think he has any and that’s what Attorney General Lori Swanson determined,” Dayton said

The federal government’s authority over health care was established over Medicare, he said.

“This is just a political ploy,” he said.

Dayton said that if he became governor he would work with the legislature to balance the state budget. His philosophy is to raise taxes on the richest individuals in the state.

“I’ll make taxes progressive again in Minnesota,” Dayton said.

He thinks the budget can become balanced by making taxes fair.

“The governor keeps saying there haven’t been tax increases but I find that to be untrue throughout much of the state,” he said.

Property taxes have increased drastically in the last few years, Dayton said.

“Property taxes are the most unfair tax,” he said. “The income tax, if it’s progressive, is the best way to raise revenues and fund education and essential state and local services.”

Dayton said health care needs to be fixed but the underlying problem is insurance companies.

“People have to pay so much in health insurance before they even pay for health care,” he said.

He would like to expand the state government’s “public option” to cover more Minnesotans. He would like to broaden Minnesota’s health care into a “single payer” model for the nation.

For education, Dayton wants to use some of the additional state funding he will gain from a progressive tax to increase public school teachers’ salaries. He also wants additional funding to go to lower class sizes. Too many elementary classes throughout Minnesota are overcrowded with 30 to 35 children, he said. Too many high school classes have 40 to 50 students. Those class sizes are “leaving too many children behind.”

Dayton wrapped up his 87-county tour of Minnesota this week.

Mark at the Fireside Grill & Patio in Bagley! (Apr. 6)