Gov. Dayton Pushes For Political Risks From House Republicans

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Gov. Mark Dayton delivered an optimistic State of the State address at the Capitol. Dayton's speech rallied Democrats, but still did not sway Republicans who oppose his transportation and overall spending proposals.

On Friday, Dayton is still asking Republicans to forget about politics and take some risks.

Dayton has jokingly described his top priorities for the legislative session as everything, but in his State of the State address, Dayton made it clear that putting more money into education and transportation are his two top priorities.

Dayton is facing the biggest opposition for his gas tax proposal to pay for transportation projects. Republicans want to tap into existing revenue streams and the state surplus.

Lawmakers have less than six weeks to finish their session, so Dayton is using the final days to emphasize his key issues.

"We're going to all have to compromise to come out of session on time and with exceptional budget," Dayton said. "My priorities are education and transportation. The House seems to be tax cuts and that's the place I've proposed the tax credits for families with cost of childcare and for working families. So, I'm willing to look at that. I want to make sure we take this time to invest in our future."

Dayton told me in his first State of the State address, he was looking at a $6.2 billion projected deficit. Now, there's a $1.9 billion surplus.

He says that's a major turnaround and a rare opportunity to invest money into what's important. In his opinion, that's education and transportation.