 Governor Mark Dayton has vetoed a bill that would have aligned Minnesota state tax code with federal changes past last year. The Democratic governor rejected the bill passed by the GOP-controlled legislature with about 20 grade school students standing behind him at a St. Paul's school. Dayton said the bill did not include the money for schools he requested and was tilted toward the wealthy and corporations. I'm vetoing the bill because they have not met the condition I set, which is to include the emergency school aid, and also because it's a bill that's skewed toward the rich. Even in the individual, they make a big deal about the individual. A family of four, making $65,000 a year is about the median family income. They get $92 a year in tax breaks. A family making $250,000 you get three times that amount. People making $250,000 a year get 12 times more tax cut than people making $20,000 a year. They got it upside down. This gives tax relief to people who most need it and lets the rich and the super rich and the big corporations do fine on their own. Our bill actually gave tax relief to low and middle income Minnesotans in the process of tax conformity. This was as reasonable a bill as you could have found. It actually was a slight increase on taxes for businesses. That's what federal tax conformity did here in Minnesota, it increased taxes on businesses. We left some of those increases in place and actually gave the tax relief to low and middle income Minnesotans. What the governor did today was veto a bill that would have put money in low and middle income Minnesotans' pockets. And I am incredibly disappointed that the governor has decided to play politics with this bill instead of giving Minnesotans some certainty in allowing them to file their taxes more easily next year. Minnesota needs to adjust its tax code to account for federal changes that took place last December. Doubt and other lawmakers say that if the governor does not sign a tax conformity bill filing taxes next April will be extremely complicated for Minnesotans. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.