Minnesota lawmakers begin special session at midnight
Updated 11:30 p.m. | Posted 10:45 p.m.
Lawmakers are on the verge of busting their budget-setting deadline, and heading directly to a special session after midnight.
Monday was supposed to be the final day of work for the Legislature this year, with a new two-year budget the only must-do item on their list.
Create a More Connected Minnesota
MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.
But only five of 10 budget bills reached DFL Gov. Mark Dayton, and those that make up more than three-quarters of the state's spending didn't even come to votes in the Republican-led House and Senate.
The final day saw more downtime than actual debate or votes, especially as resignation set in that a timely finish was becoming impossible.
House Speaker Kurt Daudt, R-Zimmerman, said Monday evening that he hoped the session would come quickly, perhaps even right on top of the regular session, and he got his wish.
"If we don't get done by midnight we need to stay here and get done, that's my preference. I don't know it will work any other way," he said, adding with a laugh. "Once people go home I don't know they'll want to come back. I won't want to come back once I get home."
A new budget must be in place by July 1 or some services would lapse. Layoff notices to state employees would start going out at the beginning of June and state parks could stop taking reservations by June 15.
Dayton has been sent a new Department of Natural Resources budget, which covers the parks, but he hasn't pledged to signing it, or any of the four other approved budget bills, without knowing the full picture.
Sen. Dan Schoen, DFL-St. Paul Park, said the public expects lawmakers could get the job done on time, with a projected surplus of $1.65 billion coming in.
Voters, he said, are already asking, "Why should we pay you if you go into special session?"
Among the items still left to resolve: budgets for public school allowances, health and welfare programs, state agency operations and transportation projects. Republicans are adamant that a tax-cut package get done, too.
Also lingering is a proposal that would roll back locally-enacted ordinances on paid and sick leave for workers in Minneapolis and St. Paul. It would also head off higher minimum wages than the state dictates.
The bill, called the uniform standards initiative by supporters and the preemption bill by detractors, has passed both the House and Senate but faces resistance from Dayton. He has threatened vetoes but hasn't entirely ruled out a compromise.