The occasion was the annual “Day on the Hill” Thursday for AFSCME Council 65 and the Minnesota School Employees Association. Council 65 represents public employees across Minnesota, except those working for the state, the Twin Cities metropolitan area, Duluth and St. Louis County. MSEA represents 6,000 public school employees in more than 55 school districts.
“I thank you for your dedicated service to the children and the people of Minnesota,” Dayton told the workers, gathered in a ballroom of the Crowne Plaza hotel in downtown St. Paul. “I know how much dedication and hard work it takes.”
Dayton decried efforts by state legislators to attack government and undercut public employee bargaining rights and pensions, calling them “just one political gambit after another.”
If passed, these proposals would “send the state off further in the wrong direction,” he said.
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| Governor Dayton shook hands with AFSCME Council 65 and MSEA members after addressing participants in the unions\' Day on the Hill. |
The governor emphasized three goals he has been working toward since taking office last year: State bonding to repair important infrastructure and boost economic growth; construction of a new Minnesota Vikings stadium; and legislation to improve job opportunities for military veterans and young people.
Dayton said Republican lawmakers made a huge mistake last year when they rejected his plan to preserve more aid to local governments by raising taxes on the wealthiest 2% of Minnesotans.
“Unfortunately protecting the wealthiest 2% from paying their fair share of taxes is more important . . . than helping the other 98% maintain their quality of life,” he said. “They [Republicans] say they’re not for higher taxes, but then they force higher property taxes on just about everybody in Minnesota.
“We’re going to hold them [state lawmakers] to a standard that says, ‘We want everybody in the state of Minnesota to do well!’” Dayton pledged.
The governor also spoke out on a major issue for those participating in the Day on the Hill: a proposed “Right to Work” constitutional amendment that would limit the right of workers to have strong unions.
“This is not Minnesota,” Dayton said of the proposal. “These are not Minnesota values.”
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The occasion was the annual “Day on the Hill” Thursday for AFSCME Council 65 and the Minnesota School Employees Association. Council 65 represents public employees across Minnesota, except those working for the state, the Twin Cities metropolitan area, Duluth and St. Louis County. MSEA represents 6,000 public school employees in more than 55 school districts.
“I thank you for your dedicated service to the children and the people of Minnesota,” Dayton told the workers, gathered in a ballroom of the Crowne Plaza hotel in downtown St. Paul. “I know how much dedication and hard work it takes.”
Dayton decried efforts by state legislators to attack government and undercut public employee bargaining rights and pensions, calling them “just one political gambit after another.”
If passed, these proposals would “send the state off further in the wrong direction,” he said.
|
| Governor Dayton shook hands with AFSCME Council 65 and MSEA members after addressing participants in the unions\’ Day on the Hill. |
The governor emphasized three goals he has been working toward since taking office last year: State bonding to repair important infrastructure and boost economic growth; construction of a new Minnesota Vikings stadium; and legislation to improve job opportunities for military veterans and young people.
Dayton said Republican lawmakers made a huge mistake last year when they rejected his plan to preserve more aid to local governments by raising taxes on the wealthiest 2% of Minnesotans.
“Unfortunately protecting the wealthiest 2% from paying their fair share of taxes is more important . . . than helping the other 98% maintain their quality of life,” he said. “They [Republicans] say they’re not for higher taxes, but then they force higher property taxes on just about everybody in Minnesota.
“We’re going to hold them [state lawmakers] to a standard that says, ‘We want everybody in the state of Minnesota to do well!’” Dayton pledged.
The governor also spoke out on a major issue for those participating in the Day on the Hill: a proposed “Right to Work” constitutional amendment that would limit the right of workers to have strong unions.
“This is not Minnesota,” Dayton said of the proposal. “These are not Minnesota values.”