Local legislators say Gov. Mark Dayton’s second State of the State address highlighted good priorities but much needs to be done before any of Dayton’s initiatives come to fruition.

Although Minnesota’s economy is outperforming the nation as a whole, Gov. Mark Dayton on Wednesday told lawmakers that creating jobs must be their top priority, and he called for setting aside partisan differences and working together to spark economic growth.

Dayton didn’t unveil any new policy initiatives or propose more spending on state programs. But the Democratic governor tried to set a more harmonious tone for a legislative session that got off to a prickly start after the Republican-controlled Senate removed one of his top appointees from office and he vetoed the first four bills the GOP sent to his desk.

“If we cooperate, if we share our best ideas, if we exchange our rigid ideologies for our shared ideals, we will revitalize our state. And we will be doing the jobs the people of Minnesota sent us here to do,” he said.

“Only by working together can we achieve a lasting legacy in which we — and they — can take pride.”

At the same time, Dayton’s message of bipartisanship is a footnote in a long call for such action. Rep. Rich Murray, R-Albert Lea, wants both parties to do something about bipartisanship instead of talking about it.

“Both sides have got to quit talking about closer bipartisanship,” Murray said. “Let’s have a little less talking and a little more doing.”

“There are so many things that we agree on, but we get held up by minutiae,” he added.

Rep. Jeanne Poppe, DFL-Austin, agreed with the governor’s call for closer bipartisanship. She said both parties need to find a way to reach across the aisle to accomplish everything the state government needs to get done.

“We really do need to put aside our rigid ideologies,” she said.

Minnesota is showing signs of a long-awaited economic recovery, Dayton said. The state’s unemployment rate is down, it has regained all the jobs lost during the Great Recession and the number of Minnesotans with jobs is at an all-time high.

Yet 168,000 Minnesotans who want to work can’t find jobs.

“They must be our No. 1 priority,” he said. “So I say to legislators, let’s take your best ideas and my best ideas and turn them into jobs! And let’s do it now.”

Dayton called on lawmakers to approve the three-part jobs initiative he proposed last month: a tax credit to encourage employers to hire the unemployed, veterans and recent college graduates; a $775 million bonding bill. Murray said he liked the governor’s message, but he found much of the governor’s proposals stressing short-term job solutions.

“What was said was great, but we need to do more,” Murray said. “Most of what I was hearing last night was very short term. I’m interested in what’s permanent, what’s long term.”

In addition to passing a jobs tax credit, Dayton called for expanding veterans’ education benefits.

Republican leaders have called Dayton’s bonding bill too expensive. He hinted he’s willing to come down on the price tag.

Noting one study estimated his plan would create 21,700 jobs, he said, “If you’re skeptical, divide by two. That’s still more than 10,000 Minnesotans now unemployed who could be working all over the state.”

And he admonished legislators to “pass a bonding bill this month.”

The governor didn’t break any new ground on the stadium issue. Noting that some lawmakers want to avoid voting on a stadium bill until after the November election, he said that would be unfair to the construction workers who could land jobs on the project and to the Vikings.

“Pass the stadium bill this session. Please,” he said.

The key to a successful future is a world-class education system, Dayton continued, urging lawmakers to work together on proposals that are best for children, parents, teachers and administrators — not for issues that just sound good in campaign literature.

“I have a novel idea. Let’s develop any education initiatives this year in cooperation with teachers, rather than in conflict with them,” he said. “The best education for all Minnesota students should not be a political ploy, and I will not support anything which is.”

Poppe agreed, saying it’s not in the legislature’s best interest to exclude teachers from important decisions.

“There’s a lot of anti-teacher bills coming through right now,” Poppe said. “Why don’t we do what we can to encourage them to be part of the solution?”

Retooling Minnesota’s higher education system is key to giving students the skills they need to succeed in the highly competitive, constantly evolving global economy. To do that, colleges and universities need state-of-the-art curricula and classrooms.

“They must prepare their students for the jobs of the future, not the past,” he said.

Republicans have said their education priorities include basing teacher layoffs on their effectiveness rather than seniority, linking teacher pay to performance and giving parents more choice by allowing them to petition converting their low-performing public schools into charter schools.

They also have proposed allowing local referendum dollars to follow students if they choose to attend a charter school within their home school district boundaries. Right now, only state aid follows students to charters.

Dayton didn’t say whether he’d sign or veto any of those GOP initiatives.

He called for funding one project that wasn’t in any of his previous requests: restoring the crumbling state Capitol.

He called on lawmakers to kick him and themselves out of the building for four years, if necessary, to renovate the building. But he did not put a price tag on it or suggest a way to pay for it.

Regarding the state budget, Dayton observed that he and lawmakers created a small surplus this year by borrowing $1.5 billion last year. Then he wanted to balance the budget by raising income taxes on the wealthy, while Republicans wanted to do it by cutting spending.

“Next November, Minnesotans will decide which of our approaches they prefer,” he said, referring to the legislative elections. “Until then, let us resolve that we will conduct this session’s financial affairs responsibly.

“No more borrowing.”

He said he stands ready to work with legislators of both parties to make government more efficient and provide better services.

But he threatened to veto “highly partisan, extreme measures that are intended for campaign literature, rather than law.”