While they’re busy not acting to create jobs, Republicans in the legislature consider a lot of stupid legislation. And because they hold a majority in both houses, they often pass that stupid legislation and send it on to the Governor for his veto. Sometimes, Governor Dayton gets tired of their antics, and hilarity ensues.

Case in point: an absurd bill that would require state agencies to develop contingency plans for Federal insolvency, a catastrophe that will never happen — unless caused by Republicans, of course. Annoyed that the legislature has been in session for 65 days without passing a jobs bill, yet has had time to pass stupid bills like this one, the Governor thoroughly denounced the bill in his veto letter [PDF].

…While the Legislature claims to want to reduce the size of state government, it continues to load employees with additional assignments of dubious value.

This bill perpetuates one the majority party’s current political stratagems: to raise doubts about the reliability of government generally and, in this instance, of the federal government specifically. As such, it joins the list of such attempts as privatizing Social Security and the systematic undermining of public schools.

Dayton goes on to remind the Republicans of just how the Federal deficit ballooned out of control after George Bush’s two tax cuts for the super-rich and corporations. You can view the whole letter below, and at only a page and a half, it’s well worth it.

Aside from his proposed bonding bill, the highlight of Governor Dayton’s jobs plan was his Jobs Now Tax Credit, which would offer a $3,000 tax credit to any Minnesota business for each veteran, unemployed worker or recent graduate they hire in 2012. With the economy steadily improving and many businesses considering adding new jobs, the Governor’s tax credit should convince some of those businesses to hire new workers.

The cost of the tax credit, at only $35 million, is quite reasonable. But while it’s cheap, it’s not free, so it will need to be paid for. Yesterday, the Governor released a supplemental budget proposal that would fund the tax credit, restore some cuts to health and human services, and replenish a state fund that reimburses police departments for bulletproof vests.

The supplemental budget will be paid for by closing a loophole that gives businesses operating in Minnesota tax preferences for overseas income. Few states  other than Minnesota offer these tax preferences — and no wonder, since they encourage offshoring instead of trying to keep businesses in Minnesota.

The Governor’s plan is a no-brainer. We should be investing in creating jobs here, not overseas.

Today’s budget forecast was good news: The budget improved by $323 million, triggering a partial payback of our debt to our schools. Here are a few of my immediate, disjointed thoughts on the news:

Don’t call it a surplus. We still owe our schools $2.4 billion. By any objective measure, we can hardly claim to have a surplus.

An improving economy helps the budget, not vice versa. As the economy improves, the budget picture gets better as well. Tax revenues are up somewhat, and spending is down as fewer need to tap into safety net programs.

The GOP has no right to declare victory. Desperate for a platform to run on in 2012, MNGOP leaders are trying to spin the good news as a vindication of their policies. But the fact is, they’re the reason we owe our schools billions. Oh, and the main reason for the improved budget picture had nothing to do with their policies.

Obamacare is already paying off. The Governor’s first action upon taking office was to sign an executive order implementing an expanded Medicaid program in cooperation with the Federal government. According to the forecast, that program was primarily responsible for the improved numbers:

More than two-thirds of the forecast gain came from a $230 million reduction inprojected spending. Most of the savings come from the Medical Assistance (MA)program where enrollments and costs for the early expansion of MA for adults withoutchildren continued to be significantly lower than anticipated.

As you may recall, this isn’t the first time expanded MA has helped the bottom line.

Any other thoughts?

In his State of the State address last night, the Governor asked the legislature to pass his jobs proposals, particularly the bonding bill. He said the voters will decide in November whose budget plan they support, and he urged legislators to put that battle side and work for jobs. Not surprisingly, he listed his proposed bonding bill first among the job bills that should be considered:

Onenationalstudyestimatesmybondingbillwouldcreate21,700jobs, mostofthemintheprivatesector.Ifyou’reskeptical,dividebytwo. That’sstillmorethan10,000Minnesotans,nowunemployed,whocouldbeworkingalloverthestate.

The Governor is absolutely correct — jobs must be our top priority. Unfortunately, the Republican majority in the legislature doesn’t seem to see it that way. They’ve been busy with their constitutional amendments, attacking consumer rights and other assorted nonsense instead of working on jobs legislation.Guess how many jobs Voter ID would create? If you answered “zero,” you’re right.

Our economy is so close to a recovery. Now is the time to redouble our efforts and finish the job, not pull back and take the chance that it falls apart. The legislature should pass the Governor’s bonding bill immediately and put 20,000 Minnesotans back to work.

Earlier today, Mark Dayton vetoed a number of Republican bills that would have reduced consumer protections under the law. The GOP calls these “tort reform,” and claims they’re about reducing frivolous lawsuits. In reality, they provide new windfalls for corporations by taking away our rights to address their wrongdoings.

In one of his veto letters [PDF], Governor Dayton got to the crux of the issue:

I am deeply concerned that this legislation would make it more difficult for average citizens to defend themselves against powerful interests. The suggestion that passage of this measure will somehow create jobs in Minnesota lacks merit and substantiation. Not a single job would be created — but important protections would be greatly impaired.

In this legislative session, we’ve already seen time and time again that the GOP isn’t working to create jobs. Just like last year, all of their energy is focused on giving gifts to the already rich and powerful. I’m glad we have Governor Dayton watching our backs.

In pushing for the Governor’s proposed $775 million bonding proposal, it looks like the Dayton administration will focus on the proposals’ abilities to jumpstart private spending and the creation of permanent jobs. On Friday, the Governor’s team posted an example — a $25 million project to revitalize Nicollet Mall:

The revitalization of Nicollet Mall as a signature business, pedestrian, and retail corridor will help leverage $2.7 billion dollars in private investment to Downtown Minneapolis, creating 13,000 new permanent jobs by 2025. These jobs will generate $174 million dollars in direct revenue to the State of Minnesota. Additionally, reconstruction and redevelopment along the mall will create 22,000 construction related jobs.

Governor Dayton’s bonding proposals strengthen the Minnesota’s economy by using state resources to leverage increased private investment. Reinvigorating Nicollet Mall will help bring new jobs and investments to downtown Minneapolis, continuing a trend towards a more vibrant downtown. Governor Dayton is committed to growing our economy, improving quality of life, and Building a Better Minnesota through important projects like Nicollet Mall. [Emphasis added]

The administration’s focus on leveraging private investments is smart, because it really emphasizes the point of a stimulus program. It’s not just to spend money directly to create jobs — it’s to provide sparks to jumpstart the private economy. The Nicollet Mall project is a perfect example of that.

Even if the estimates above end up being significantly over-confident, a small public investment will jumpstart private investments many times larger than the relatively small cost of the project. This small public investment could leverage billions in private funding, creating thousands of jobs and ultimately paying for itself. How many Minnesotans would really object to that?

To say Mark Dayton is angry at the partisan attack on one of his appointees would be putting it mildly. Dayton is clearly furious — as he has every right to be. Senate Republicans are clearly bent on spending the legislative session doing nothing but attacking the DFL.

In response to the vote against Ellen Anderson, Dayton released a long statement slamming the Republicans as “unfit to lead:”

You would think after their leadership scandals, which caused them to replace all of their leaders last month, they would behave themselves for at least a little while.  However, they seem incapable of doing so.  After it was disclosed that they had ignored a $2.6 million reduction in their own operating budget during the past six months, the Republican Caucus hired a new Communications Director at a salary $10,000 above his predecessor.  And they picked someone, a decent man, who now has a very serious conflict of interest as a University of Minnesota Regent, which he won’t acknowledge and they won’t deal with – thus sullying the good reputation of our great university.

Last week, their very first week back in session, the Senate Republican leaders addressed their deficit by cutting DFL Senators’ share of the budget almost half-a-million dollars, while cutting theirs…zero.  Zero.  They did it after their new Leader said the Senate was “like family.”  Some family. 

Now, to begin their second week, they have smeared and rejected an outstanding public official.  They claim PUC Chair Anderson is “too extreme.”  Her record proves them wrong.  Since she joined the PUC, there have been 221 votes among the five commissioners, the other four of whom were all appointed by Governor Pawlenty.  Three of them are Republicans….

I’ll tell you what is extreme.  As Chair of the Senate Tax Committee, Senator Julianne Ortman, who leveled the charge of being “too extreme” against Ellen, is the one person most to blame for eliminating the Homestead Market Value Credit last year.  She put the credit’s elimination in the first tax bill, which I vetoed.  During the final negotiations in both June and July, she, more than anyone, insisted on eliminating it.

Clearly, Dayton is hurt by the GOP’s partisan attacks. And can you blame him? In one short week, the GOP has completely blown up any chance of a productive working environment in the Senate. One can’t help but wonder why they decided to create such a poisonous atmosphere.

Mark Dayton and the DFL are proposing a $775 million bonding bill this session, which is smaller than they should have; $1 billion would be much better. But despite the GOP’s professed commitment to jobs — a commitment we’ve never seen any evidence of — they’re planning a woefully inadequate bonding bill:

[House Capital Investment Committee Chair Larry] Howes says he thinks the maxiumum size for a bonding bill this year in the House is about $500 million.

Sorry, but that’s nowhere near good enough. Not only is it an insufficient job creator, it’s fiscally irresponsible. Interest rates are still historically low. Nobody can deny that our roads, bridges, and schools have been underfunded lately; why not improve them now before interest rates increase?

In fact, the Governor’s bonding proposal would reduce our debt service payments. According to Minnesota Management and Budget [PDF], the ten-year average for bonds is — wait for it — $775 million. That’s exactly what the Governor is proposing for this year, but in a year with very low interest rates. The effect will be to slightly reduce our debt service payments.

Given that the Governor’s proposal would reduce our debt-service payments, I can’t possibly think of a good reason to spend $300 million less and kill thousands of jobs.

The UpTake has some great video of Mark Dayton speaking at the Blue State Ball on Saturday. Dayton skewered the GOP for their one sole priority during the last legislative session:

…an absolute unwavering devotion to their mantra that there will be no tax increases on the richest Minnesotans. And everything else — everything else sacrificed at that altar. Property taxes increased, school funding withheld, borrowing from our future with tobacco bonds… everything and anything so as not to make the wealthiest 2 percent of Minnesotans pay their fair share of taxes.

I couldn’t agree more. I noted back in July that the GOP’s lone victory was protecting multi-millionaires. And I’m glad Dayton is willing to bring this to the forefront of the debate.

In fact, Dayton went on to urge DFLers to take a strong stand on raising taxes on the very rich, calling it good policy and good politics. He’s absolutely right — after all, he took back the Governor’s mansion with those politics. I hope DFL legislative candidates will heed his advice.

Watch the whole speech below: