Dayton Says He'll Veto Tax Bill Containing Crucial Typo
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Gov. Mark Dayton said Friday he will veto a recently-passed tax bill unless state lawmakers agree to his demands to call a special session on other issues.
If the bill goes down, many popular items will go down with it:
But a one-word mistake means none of it might happen.
"They're the ones who screwed up the tax bill," Dayton said. "I'm not going to sign a tax bill that has a $101-million error."
A late-night drafting error inserted the word "or" instead of the word "and" -- a mistake that could deplete the Vikings stadium fund and trigger a 10-percent tax on suite holders.
Republican leaders fired off a series of irritated letters to the governor, claiming mistakes in previous legislative sessions were often resolved by issuing simple "legislative letters of intent" to correct the error.
But Cynthia Bauerly of the Minnesota Commissioner of Revenue says that is not an option in this case, in part because of the large amount of tax revenue involved.
"In this instance, the definition is clear," Bauerly said. "And where it's clear and unambiguous, we don't have the luxury of looking to legislative intent because their intent is expressed in the statute."
Without a tax bill, other major tax breaks would disappear, including two major sports incentives: tax breaks granted to the NFL for the Minnesota-based 2018 Super Bowl, and a property tax exemption for the new Minnesota United Soccer stadium in St. Paul, which the team says will not go forward without it.
If the governor and legislative leaders can reach agreement on the tax bill and other spending programs, there could be a special session in mid-June.
