MPR’s Michael Khoo reports on reaction to Governor Ventura’s released budget plan which tightens the fiscal reins. When Governor Jesse Ventura took his first stab at the budgeting process two years ago, he acknowledged many of his proposals were based on former-Governor Arne Carlson's work, but Ventura is describing his latest effort as entirely his own. The plan calls for more than a billion dollars in tax relief and holds spending to about the level of inflation.

Some lawmakers are applauding the proposal, but others are questioning the governor's priorities. During Ventura's first two years in office, state spending grew roughly 13 percent over the previous biennium…well outpacing the inflation rate over the same period. Ventura says that was a signal to tighten the fiscal reins this time around.