Minnesota Gov. Dayton shuffles two posts at top of his cabinet

Going into his second term, DFL Gov. Mark Dayton will have new commissioners handling the top money posts.

Revenue Commissioner Myron Frans, who has served as Dayton's top tax adviser, will take over as Minnesota Management and Budget commissioner. Jim Schowalter, who holds that post now, is leaving to become president and CEO of the Minnesota Council of Health Plans. Frans' position will be filled by his deputy, Cynthia Bauerly.

Dayton is not expecting a wholesale shuffling of his cabinet. He said Wednesday that 20 of his 24 commissioners will be with him when the new legislative session opens in January.

"It is a testament to their commitment to public service," Dayton said, "and I look forward to continuing to build on the progress we have made together over the last four years."

But with Schowalter leaving state employment and Frans shifting his role, the Dayton administration will see a change among two of the governor's most trusted commissioners.

Both men command respect among Democrats and Republicans, said incoming House Taxes Committee Chair Greg Davids, a Republican from Preston and the House GOP's most senior member. "Losing Schowalter is going to be tough, but I think a very capable person is coming in to take his place," Davids said.

After leaving the private sector to join the administration in 2010, Frans became one of Dayton's higher-profile policy pitchmen. In 2012 he spent months traveling the state with a lopsided three-legged stool to show that Minnesota's main sources of taxes were out of balance.

The following year he worked with the governor on a tax package that would raise income taxes on the wealthy and others and still win legislative approval. Earlier this year he coordinated a large package of tax refunds and tax credits that was signed into law shortly before most Minnesotans filed their taxes.

"Frans has shown his superb ability to manage our state's finances," Dayton said.

When Schowalter walks out the door, he will take two decades of state finance experience with him. He joined what was then the state Department of Finance in 1994 and rose steadily, serving under Republican, Independence and now DFL Party administrations.

Under Dayton, Schowalter oversaw the state's finances through a massive deficit, a contentious government shutdown and on to his latest economic forecast earlier in December, when he announced that the state had a projected budget surplus of nearly $1 billion.

Schowalter said he wanted to get Dayton through the election and lined up for this budget. When the health plan council post came open, he said, "I felt like the timing was good."

Said Dayton of Schowalter, "I have relied heavily on his wise counsel, and the entire state of Minnesota has benefited greatly from his outstanding service."

Bauerly joined the Dayton administration in 2013, after leaving her post as a commissioner of the Election Commission. But she is well-versed in the ways of Minnesota. She has worked with the state's politicians, including U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, and earned her bachelor's degree from Concordia College in Moorhead.

Only three commissioner posts remain unfilled. In November, Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board Commissioner Tony Sertich said he would step down, as did Metropolitan Council Chair Susan Haigh. In early December, Carolyn Parnell, commissioner of MN.IT, the agency that manages the technology systems, said she would not stay through a second term.

Rachel E. Stassen-Berger • Twitter: @RachelSB