Minnesota's budget

Deal at a glance

by Alex Friedrich, Minnesota Public Radio

St. Paul, Minn. — Here's a look at the key items in the June 30 proposal that forms the basis of Thursday's initial agreement to end the shutdown and close a $1.4 million gap between parties' budget proposals.

It also shows who gave ground — Gov. Mark Dayton or GOP leaders - on each item, assuming that both sides accept the points as originally proposed.

Details haven't been worked out yet, however, and so the list below could change.

WHAT GOT IN
Item: Delay of another $700 million or so in payments to school districts.		Who gave ground: Neither side directly -- though the GOP had originally proposed it, and Dayton came to accept it later only reluctantly.
Item: Borrowing against future tobacco payments through the sale of tobacco bonds, which would cover the remaining gap of about $700 million.		Who gave ground: Dayton. He'd seen that as a one-time fix that didn't ultimately solve the deficit.
Item: Inclusion of $500 million bonding bill for various construction projects around the state.		Who gave ground: Republicans, who'd never supported it, yet had never vigorously opposed it, either.
Item: Increase in the per-student funding formula by $50 per student per year to cover additional borrowing costs.		Who gave ground: Republicans, though they'd just offered it as a way to ease the burden of the payment delays to schools.
Item: An additional $10 million to the University of Minnesota to put reductions on par with those suffered by the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system.		Who gave ground: Republicans, who'd originally made more severe cuts to the U of M.
Item: Full funding to the Department of Human Rights and Minnesota Trade Office.		Who gave ground: Republicans, who'd wanted to eliminate them.
WHAT WAS DROPPED:
Item: Increased taxation of Minnesotans making more than $1 million annually.		Who gave ground: Dayton, who'd preferred taxes to one-time revenue sources such as the sale of tobacco bonds.
Item: Cutting of state workforce by 15 percent.		Who gave ground: Republicans, who'd wanted smaller government.
Item: Increase in surcharges on hospitals and nursing homes.		Who gave ground: Dayton, who'd preferred such charges to one-time revenue sources.
Item: Policy changes (such as a requirement that voters show photo identification at the polls, a ban on cloning, and an end to taxpayer funding of abortions).		Who gave ground: Republicans, who'd pushed through a number of controversial non-budget initiatives.