Lillie Responds To Dayton’s Charges Of ‘Extremism’

As GOP leaders prepare to meet with Gov. Mark Dayton this week to negotiate a budget deal, the group will have to get one thing straightened out first.

In recent weeks Dayton has called a group of freshman GOP lawmakers “right-wing extremists,” according to MinnPost, and the governor said that is the reason neither side could settle on the state’s $5 billion budget deficit during the regular session.

That idea doesn’t sit well with first-term Sen. Ted Lillie, a Republican who represents the Woodbury area.

Lillie is part of the budget negotiating team and says they will have to address the governor’s comments before moving forward.

Simply because GOP leadership opposes tax increases doesn’t make the lawmakers extremists, said Lillie, the publisher of Lillie Suburban Newspapers.

“I really have a problem with that,” he said. “These are average people. … He’s insulting average Minnesotans, and that’s problematic.”

Moreover, the governor’s comments are divisive at a time when the state could face a government shutdown, Lillie said.

“This is not helpful to getting across the finish line,” he said.

A message left for Dayton's press secretary Tuesday afternoon was not returned.

Lillie said he interpreted Dayton’s comments as specifically directed at the notion that Republican senators won’t pass a budget bill that includes tax increases. The state’s biannual budget is going up from $31 billion to $34 billion, and the GOP plan includes increases for K-12 education and health and human services, Lillie said.

“That would seem to be a very reasonable thing, not an extreme thing, to me,” he said.

Asking for more public money than what’s already on the table: “If you ask me, that position is extreme,” Lillie said.

“It’s very frustrating that the governor would go down this path,” he said.

Behind closed doors, Dayton has been “very personable” though assertive, Lillie said. “But it’s not name calling. It’s not confrontational.”

Lillie said he viewed Dayton’s comments as an effort at “marginalizing your opponent.”

Ultimately, the fear is that the negotiations will drag out and spark a government shutdown, Lillie said.

“And that would be a shame,” he said.