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ST. PAUL (WCCO/AP) Minnesota Republican leaders today ramped up their criticism of Gov. Mark Daytons hefty pay hikes for his Cabinet.

The Democratic governor issued a detailed defense of the raises in a letter to the legislature, calling the pay hikes necessary and legal.

The raises I approved were to salaries that had remained stagnant for over twelve years, he said, and thus were well below the amounts paid to people with comparable responsibilities in other states.

Top Republicans say they were caught off guard by the hefty pay hikes, which the governor didnt make public for 30 days.

This was just a kind of whammy that came out of nowhere, said Rep. Sarah Anderson, R-Plymouth.

At a testy Capitol hearing, Republicans accused the Dayton administration of misleading Minnesotans about where the budget surplus is going.

I dont think there is a citizen in the state of Minnesota who expected that the surplus money would be going toward commissioner salaries, Anderson said.

Rep. Steve Drazkowski, R-Mazeppa, derided the luxurious, gold-plated salaries that were announced last week as out-of-step with stagnant wages for many Minnesota residents. He sponsored the provision to withhold state money from those agencies.

In his letter to lawmakers, Governor Dayton said the raises, some as high as $35,000, are a way to attract and keep high-level talent.

I want to make clear that none of my commissioners have ever complained to me about their salaries, Gov. Dayton said in the letter. Not one has ever asked me for a raise.

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Republican Lawmakers Respond To Governors Pay Hikes