Dayton talks Vikings stadium, Koch's conduct and his son's wedding

Posted at 5:26 PM on December 22, 2011 by Tom Scheck (1 Comments)
Filed under: Campaign 2012, MN Legislature, Mark Dayton

Tom Crann, host of MPR's All Things Considered program, interviewed Gov. Dayton about the controversy surrounding Sen. Amy Koch, the prospects for a new Minnesota Vikings stadium and his track record during his first year in office.

Dayton declined to discuss how he thinks the Senate should handle the Koch matter.

"I don't know if that's something I can be commenting on," Dayton said. "It's up to the Senate to resolve this and the Republican caucus to resolve. Their choice of a new leader will say a lot about how they view what's occurred and how they intend to proceed in the future."

Koch issued a statement last night that apologized for having an inappropriate relationship with a male staffer. Senate Republicans are scheduled to meet on Tuesday to elect a new majority leader.

Dayton declined to say whether the next majority leader will have an impact on his push to get a new Vikings stadium built.

"It depends on who the next majority leader is," Dayton said. "Obviously the Senate majority Leader and the Speaker of the House have almost complete control of the agenda of their respective bodies, if one or both of them want to duck the issue and avoid dealing with it until after the next election then they owe that explanation to the people of Minnesota."

Dayton said some of his accomplishments in his first year in office were enacting legislation that spent money on public works projects, saved $500 million in taxpayer money from requiring HMOs to big competitively for people on subsidized health insurance and praised the state's Education Commissioner for winning federal money through a Race to the Top grant.

Dayton says one of his biggest regrets was not getting his income tax hike on top earners enacted into law.

Dayton also told MPR News that his son, Eric, is getting married next week to Cornelia Oehler in San Francisco.

You can listen to the entire interview here: Listen

Comments (1)

get that vikings stadium done

Posted by bw | December 23, 2011 11:44 PM

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