Give Gov. Mark Dayton credit for traveling the state last week to talk with those of us paying the bills about the state's projected $627 million budget deficit and his plan not only to plug it but to tax the rich to invest more in education and other priorities.
We may not all agree with the governor's approach, but we can appreciate that he took the time to hear us out -- and that he kept listening, even when we were rude, as was at least one attendee at the town hall in Duluth, the first of our cities Dayton visited.
Several days earlier, Duluth-area lawmakers returned home to hold a town hall meeting of their own. The session at the University of Minnesota Duluth was lightly attended, but with state Commissioner of Revenue Myron Frans in tow, the lawmakers deserve credit for offering the opportunity.
Granted, Dayton and the others could have reached out to us before writing and pitching budget proposals, or even before pitching a revised budget proposal, but there remains much work to be done before a final two-year spending plan is finalized early this summer. Though Dayton is a DFLer and DFLers control both the state House and Senate, lawmakers and the governor are offering up differing proposals about what state government should do and how Minnesotans are willing to pay for it.
So the opinions and feedback heard at the town halls can still go a long way toward fueling final solutions. As long as Dayton and the others sincerely take to heart and remember what they heard -- even those less-than-polite comments.
