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Budget Stalled, Republicans Eye Minn. Constitution

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- Proposals to amend Minnesota's constitution are proliferating as GOP lawmakers find a route around Gov. Mark Dayton.

Proposed constitutional amendments under consideration would ban gay marriage, limit state spending, make it harder to raise state taxes and require photo IDs at the polls.

The governor doesn't have the power to block ballot questions.

That means Republicans running the entire Legislature for the first time in 38 years can push the proposals through without interference.

House Majority Leader Matt Dean says legislators are focusing on issues where the public wants to have a say. Constitutional amendments that pass both houses of the Legislature would appear on the November 2012 ballot.

Democrats say the proposals are a distraction from unfinished budget work to fix a $5 billion deficit.

(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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