as negotiations went on during the legislative session, dayton suggested compromise budget frameworks ultimately reducing his proposed budget to $35.8 billion, but insisted that he would go no further and that republicans were not amenable enough to compromise. the legislature passed budget bills that balanced the budget with significant cuts to social and infrastructure services, rather than raising any taxes. they described their budget as a compromise with the dfl after the state's revenue forecast was revised upward, as it called for $34 billion in state spending increased from $32 billion. dayton claimed that the impasse was the doing of "extreme right-wing" freshman republican legislators whom he did not talk to, and that he had cordial relationships with republican leaders. in a statement at the end of the session on may 23, dayton said "here i am in the middle — and they haven't moved". republicans, including koch and other legislative leaders, consistently insisted they would not accept a budget of over $34 billion, citing polls suggesting public opinion was on their side. during the session, the republican party held a rally calling for tax cuts at the state capitol on may 7. protesters supporting dayton's tax increases and opposed to the republicans, many from public employee unions, gathered at the capitol multiple times, including at the end of the session.