Dayton-funded senior trips to Canada to start up

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Mark Dayton announced Wednesday he will restart his "Rx Express" trips to Canada next Monday using his Senate salary, continuing his attention-grabbing trips from last year's campaign.

Dayton, D-Minn., announced in February that he would donate his Senate salary of $145,100 a year to resume the trips, which allow Minnesota seniors to purchase prescription drugs at deep discounts because prices are lower in Canada.

The first trip this year will leave the state Capitol at 9 a.m. Monday for Winnipeg, with a stop in Mora to pick up more senior citizens. Between 25 and 30 Minnesotans are expected to participate.

The trips will be run by the Minnesota Senior Federation, a St. Paul-based group that helped organize last year's trips to Canada. The group will be using Dayton's after-tax salary, which comes to around $88,000.

Unlike last year's trips, for which seniors paid for the cost of transportation, Dayton will foot the bill for the trips, which are estimated to cost around $2,000 each.

Most will be overnight, and seniors will be required to pay for lodging.