Tag: Mark Dayton

Minnesota swears in state’s first Hmong-American judge

The following article by Chao Xiong was posted on the StarTribune website January 5, 2018:

State’s first Hmong-American jurist is right at home on Ramsey County bench.

Sophia VueLo took the oath as Minnesota Second Judicial District Judge with her husband Dr. Muaj C. Lo next to her and Chief Justice Lorie Gildea administering the ceremony.

Sophia Vuelo was born in Laos during wartime and raised in Wisconsin by a widowed mother who could barely write her own name. On Thursday, she became Minnesota’s first Hmong-American judge, and only one of a few in the country.

“Never let your circumstances or your birthplace prevent who you are … ,” Vuelo told a packed crowd that included high school classmates, community leaders and young girls.

Vuelo was sworn in as the 29th member of the Ramsey County District Court bench. She switched between English and Hmong as she addressed attendees, tearing up as she recalled the Lutheran church that “took a chance” by helping to resettle her family.

“That has made all of the difference to me,” she said. “We were poorer than a church mouse.” Continue reading “Minnesota swears in state’s first Hmong-American judge”

Gov. Mark Dayton appoints Tina Smith to U.S. Senate

The following article by Erin Golden and J. Patrick Coolican was posted on the StarTribune website December 13, 2017:

Minnesota’s lieutenant governor, a Democrat, will take over for Sen. Al Franken when he officially resigns from Senate.

Lt. Gov. Tina Smith accepted an appointment to the U.S. Senate on Wednesday, preparing to replace Al Franken as one of Minnesota’s most powerful officials in Washington and vowing to protect the seat for Democrats in next year’s special election.

“Though I never anticipated this moment, I am resolved to do everything I can to move Minnesota forward,” Smith said, moments after DFL Gov. Mark Dayton announced that he was her choice to replace Franken following his upcoming resignation in the wake of a sexual harassment scandal.

When she officially joins the Senate — likely to happen in early January — Smith will join Sen. Amy Klobuchar to make Minnesota one of only four states with two women senators (the others are California, Washington and New Hampshire). Continue reading “Gov. Mark Dayton appoints Tina Smith to U.S. Senate”

Governor Dayton Urges President, Republicans to Abandon Proposal that Would Eliminate Tax Deduction for 900,000 Minnesota Families

Tax proposal from President Trump, Congressional Republicans would eliminate tax deduction for one-third of Minnesota taxpayers, hurting residents in every county (as detailed below)

While 80 percent of the benefits would go to the top 1 percent, 900,000 Minnesota families would lose an average $12,000 tax deduction every year; totaling over $12 billion statewide

Credit: REUTERS/Eric Miller

ST. PAUL, MN – Today, Governor Mark Dayton called on President Donald Trump and Republican members of Congress to abandon their tax proposal which would eliminate on an average a $12,000 tax deduction for 900,000 primarily middle-class Minnesota families. These tax deductions provide hard-working Minnesota families about $12 billion in tax benefits every year.

The following is a statement from Governor Mark Dayton:

“The US Congress’ Republican Senators and Representatives and President Trump are striking another blow against our country’s future economic prosperity, by cutting taxes, especially for the rich, large corporations, and powerful special interests. Over half of their proposed tax cuts would go to the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans, whose annual incomes total more than $730,000 per year. Continue reading “Governor Dayton Urges President, Republicans to Abandon Proposal that Would Eliminate Tax Deduction for 900,000 Minnesota Families”

Dayton: Republican claims about my vetoes simply aren’t true

The following commentary by Gov. Mark Dayton was posted on the StarTribune website September 26, 2017:

I didn’t leave legislators cash-starved or try to destroy a coequal branch. I just want to revise a tax bill to keep the state on firm fiscal footing.

Ever since I vetoed some of the Minnesota Legislature’s funding for the next two years, Republican legislative leaders have been screaming that I am trying to abolish their branch of government. They sued me, claiming that I had acted unconstitutionally by denying them enough money to “survive” until next February’s legislative session, when they will be able to restore their full funding.

In the Legislature’s brief filed with the Minnesota Supreme Court just last week, they again swore that my vetoes had denied them enough money to operate until next February. In addition, a group of Republican legislators wrote in these pages last Friday that “ … the governor used his line-item veto power to eliminate funding for the Legislature, effectively abolishing the legislative branch.” Continue reading “Dayton: Republican claims about my vetoes simply aren’t true”

MN Supreme Court says Mark Dayton’s veto of legislative budget was constitutional

The following article by Rachel E. Stassen-Berger was posted on the Pioneer Press website September 8, 2017:

Credit: Steve Mullis, MPR

The Minnesota Supreme Court on Friday decided that Gov. Mark Dayton’s veto of the House and Senate budgets earlier this year was constitutional.

“We hold that the governor’s exercise of his line item veto authority … was constitutional,” Supreme Court Chief Justice Lorie Gildea wrote. “This conclusion, however, does not end the matter.”

The justice wrote that the court does not believe it has the authority to order the Legislature funded, as did a previous district court, while the dispute goes on. Therefore it ordered Dayton, a Democrat, and the Republican Legislature back into talks with a mediator. Continue reading “MN Supreme Court says Mark Dayton’s veto of legislative budget was constitutional”

Gov. Mark Dayton’s budget legacy secure: Surpluses and more spending

NOTE:  Deep in this article, there’s something important to remember. “…after population increases and inflation are factored in, per capita state spending is slightly less now than it was in 2003…”.  Gov. Mark Dayton led the state’s economic recovery, repaid the schools, built a surplus, and held total spending to Pawlenty-era levels.  Pretty darn good, we’d say.   (And, nothing Republicans seem willing to acknowledge in any way, shape or form about any Democratic effort.)

The following article by Patrick Coolican was posted on the Star Tribune website June 10, 2017:

Mark Dayton, a second-term DFL governor not running for re-election, largely sealed his ambitious budget legacy in May when he signed his final two-year budget.

Source:  REUTERS/Eric Miller

The year Gov. Mark Dayton took office, the state budget was $15.3 billion. The year he leaves, it is projected to be $23 billion — a 50 percent increase.

Dayton, a second-term DFL governor not running for re-election, largely sealed his ambitious budget legacy in May when he signed his final two-year budget that funds schools, health and human services, parks and other state programs.

“We’ve restored fiscal integrity and stability to the Minnesota budget,” Dayton said in an interview Friday. Continue reading “Gov. Mark Dayton’s budget legacy secure: Surpluses and more spending”

Minnesota Poll finds broad approval of Dayton

The following article by J. Patrick Coolican was posted on the Star Tribune website May 3, 2017:

Minnesota Poll: Approval rating of 62 percent is highest of governor’s political career.

Gov. Mark Dayton enters his final 18 months in office with the highest job approval rating of his tenure, according to a new Star Tribune Minnesota Poll.

More than three out of five Minnesotans — 62 percent — approve of Dayton’s performance, according to the poll. It’s the DFL governor’s highest approval rating in a Minnesota Poll since he took office at the beginning of 2011, and also higher than he ever scored in the poll as a U.S. senator from 2001 to 2006.

(See the poll results here.)

That’s likely to embolden Dayton as he grapples with the Republican-controlled Legislature over the state budget. Clashes over taxes and spending, transportation, health care and early education are certain to accompany the closing days of a session that ends on May 22. Continue reading “Minnesota Poll finds broad approval of Dayton”