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DFL Chairman Blasts Daudt For Spending $2M On Capitol Furniture

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO/AP) –The Minnesota DFL party released a statement Thursday blasting Speaker of the House Kurt Daudt for the cost of his furniture.

Renovators had planned to spend $4.5 million on furniture and decorations until Daudt and the House Republicans quietly pushed to bump up the furnishings allocation by $2 million, or 45 percent.

According to the DFL statement, Daudt lobbied for $2 million in furniture for the Minnesota Capitol. This included a $10,000 door to be used on his new "Speaker" suite.

However, Republicans said the suite is not Daudt's office but a space to be used for all as Daudt had said in a statement this winter.

"The space allotted to the House will be used for public meeting rooms, conference rooms for members to meet with the public and for staff work space when the House is in session," he said in a written statement released in January. "The House will not have any member officers in the Capitol."

Martin, and other Democrats, feel Daudt is being hypocritical.

"Daudt couldn't find $30,000 to help Minnesota's deaf children, but he wants to turn our Capitol restoration into his personal version of HGTV's 'Property Brothers' using taxpayer dollars," DFL Chairman Ken Martin said in the statement.

Martin said in the statement that Daudt desire to spend that much on furniture showed that he is no responsible with resources.

(TM and © Copyright 2015 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2015 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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