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Efforts to finalize and pass state budget bills are hitting a sticking point as legislative leaders and the governor struggle to bring negotiations about a budget framework to a close. 

For more than two weeks, the leaders have entered closed-door negotiations almost every day to negotiate how much the state should spend on schools, health care, public safety and other government programs. Democrats hold the governor’s office and a one-seat edge in the Senate, meanwhile the House of Representatives is evenly split.

Legislative leaders on Tuesday came and went from meetings at the Capitol. They said they hoped to reach a deal soon. The comments came as the adjournment date May 19 creeps nearer. 

Asked about the status of talks Tuesday, Gov. Tim Walz said the timeline to get a budget will probably be similar to 2019 when leaders got a framework with about a week remaining in session. Back then, Walz called lawmakers back to the Capitol for a one-day special session to pass remaining bills.

“We’re probably getting pretty close to that. I can say that it has been very productive. It’s moving,” Walz said. “I will still say the tone of these are really encouraging, respectful differences, ideological differences, still working.”

He and others have raised concerns about a race to the finish that could overtax lawmakers and staff and lead to legislative errors.

“I don’t know what we can accomplish, but what I don’t want to do is say to Minnesotans, you know, ‘We’re going to push through and get this done,’ and make the people who work here and the members who serve here do something that is really impossible physically,” Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, said Monday.

Republican House Speaker Lisa Demuth and Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson have been involved in the closed-door talks along with heads of top budget committees. They’ve provided little feedback on the negotiations going in and out of the meetings other than to say they’ve been making progress.

“I am always optimistic about the timeline,” Demuth said Monday. “We have a week left, and that’s what we’re going to get in and work on right now.”

Without a framework to draw from, leaders of conference committees have met this week but effectively said there’s little they can do. Budget targets dictate how much they can spend. That’s what is needed to finalize bills.

“Was hoping for some targets, I didn’t really promise them but that’s what was indicated to me,” Rep. Jon Koznick, R-Lakeville, said as the Transportation Conference Committee closed out a meeting on Tuesday. Koznick is one of the co-chairs of the House Transportation Finance and Policy Committee.

“Before we can send up our white smoke, we need them to send up their white smoke,” Sen. Scott Dibble, DFL-Minneapolis, replied. 

The chair of the Senate Transportation Finance and Policy Committee was alluding to wrapping up a conference committee after legislative leaders shared a budget framework.

And a House tax bill that came to the floor on Tuesday was paused with the target talks ongoing. The bill must originate in the House and often serves as a catch-all for other spending and policy proposals that get cut elsewhere at the very end of the legislative session.

Dana Ferguson

Author

Top legislative leaders and the governor have been meeting for more than two weeks to hammer out a budget framework. While they say talks are advancing, their prolonged negotiations could force a special session to wrap things up.

Minnesota Capitol comes to a slowdown as lawmakers await budget outline

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