ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Minnesota House minority leader, Kurt Daudt, R-Crown, called Governor Tim Walz’s agenda as laid out in his State of the State address as insufficiently ambitious. “We could cut taxes 10% across the board and still meet the demands of state government,” said Daudt. Walz is a Democrat. Republicans favor a permanent cut in income taxes rate. As an alternative, Walz Checks with one-time rebates are “minuscule,” Daudt said. Also, he said the governor’s public safety proposals won’t address rising crime rates. Daudt said he heard nothing about holding criminals more accountable. Too, he said, there was nothing about recruiting people into police careers. Senator Gary Dahms, R-Redwood Falls, said he was hoping for Walz’s thoughts on the education gap between white-skin and brown-skin students. “We’re not changing the achievement gap,” Dahms said. “We’re not changing much of anything. Yet we keep putting in new money.”
Notable absence
The Minnesota Senate majority leader, Jeremy Miller, R-Winona, did not attend the governor’s annual status report on the state. As majority leader, Miller typically would deliver a response.