~ Governor Pawlenty’s Director of Communications, Brian McClung, statement regarding House and Senate passage of the DFL education bill ~

Saint Paul – The following is a statement from Governor Pawlenty’s Director of Communications, Brian McClung, following House and Senate passage of the DFL education bill.

“Tonight, the DFL walked away from negotiations. Instead, they charged ahead to do what they do best – raise taxes, irresponsibly increase government spending, and throw out accountability measures.

“That’s unfortunate because Minnesotans would benefit from the property tax relief and other tax cuts we were fighting for as part of the overall budget negotiations. We intend to use every tool at our disposal to ensure Minnesota’s budget is balanced, taxpayers are protected, and state government lives within its means just like families have to do every day.

“The DFL education bill stops our nation-leading program to pay teachers for performance and revokes other key education accountability measures.”