After DFL dust-up, Dayton and Bakk try to restore calm

Days after Gov. Mark Dayton blasted DFL leadership and said he actually had more trust in Republicans, things were dialed back a notch or two today at the Capitol.

Last week's dust-up came after Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk (D-Duluth) introduced an amendment to postpone Dayton's controversial pay raises for state commissioners.

After a brief Senate floor session today, Bakk said, "The governor is certainly entitled to his view."

"My office has had a couple conversations with his office over the last couple days," Bakk added. "We'll see where it goes from there."

Dayton, tracked down while visiting with tour groups in the House chambers, said he's "not going to comment."

"I don't have anything new to report and I'm not going to comment on anything... we'll work something out," Dayton said, adding that his focus this week will be on his transportation agenda, which he plans to unveil tomorrow.

Bakk said he thinks the commissioner pay raise issue will be worked out in a conference committee. He added that he won't send the governor a bill he knows he'll veto, but thinks the large pay raises Dayton gave top state employees need some public vetting.