ST. PAUL &045; The propaganda battle over the past legislative session began in earnest Monday, with Gov. Tim Pawlenty and DFL leaders hitting the road to spread their widely divergent views of what happened.

&uot;The DFL has become the party of misery merchants,&uot; Pawlenty said, accusing Democrats of peddling doom and gloom about the deep cuts that helped bring a $4.56 billion budget deficit into balance.

Pawlenty was scheduled to visit Albert Lea for a news conference this morning in the airport lobby. On the DFL side, Assistant Senate Majority Leader Ann Rest also planned an Albert Lea stop today.

At a news conference before getting on an airplane, Pawlenty defended balancing the budget without state tax increases. &uot;The sky is not falling. … The budget is still growing,&uot; he said.

Democrats gathered at the Capitol to kick off their own 19-city tour with a considerably more pessimistic outlook.

Senate Majority Leader John Hottinger, DFL-St. Peter, called Pawlenty &uot;the director of distraction&uot; for trying to deflect attention from the budget cuts to other issues.

&uot;Today is the first day in a long fight for Minnesota’s soul,&uot; he said.

After a legislative session in which Pawlenty and the GOP-controlled House achieved most of their goals, Democrats are hoping to incite a backlash against them.

&uot;Democrats will hold Republicans accountable for the demolition of decades of bipartisan investment and job development,&uot; Hottinger told reporters in Moorhead.

Pawlenty listed a dozen or so pieces of legislation he considered &uot;reform,&uot; including changes at the Department of Education, cutting weekend meals to prison inmates from three to two and toughening welfare requirements.

&uot;Clearly, we have our challenges, but we also need to look at the accomplishments of this session in a positive light,&uot; Pawlenty said in St. Paul.

In Willmar, Hottinger told reporters that Minnesotans will feel the effects of the new budget when they pay higher college tuition, higher fees at state parks and more property taxes.