Republican Lawmakers Move to Counter Governor’s Pay Raises

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Majority House Republicans have taken an initial step to punish Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton over raises awarded to top administration managers.

The GOP added a clause to a must-pass spending bill Monday that seeks agency budget cuts equal to sizable commissioner raises, which came to light last week. The underlying spending package includes money to pay for the state's Ebola response, deal with a deficiency at the Department of Natural Resources and to hire more staff at the strained St. Peter state security hospital for sex offenders.

The move applies only the departments of Health, Human Services and Natural Resources but signals a hardball tactic likely to hit other agencies later. They would have to absorb spending cuts to account for respective commissioner pay raises of $16,000, $6,000 and $18,000.