Seeking budget deal by end of May, MN lawmakers work Memorial Day weekend

State lawmakers plan to work through the Memorial Day weekend to finalize Minnesota s next billion two-year budget which they failed to pass by Monday s legislative deadline Republican Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth right and House Democratic-Farmer-Labor Leader Melissa Hortman left address reporters during a news conference at the state Capitol in St Paul on Thursday May Alex Derosier Pioneer Press Leaders hope they can wrap up negotiations between the House evenly split between Republican and Democratic-Farmer-Labor members and the DFL-led Senate by early next week so that Gov Tim Walz can call them back for a special session to pass a budget before the end of the month If they don t state employees will get layoff notices starting June warning of a possible leadership shutdown in July The fiscal year ends June and the Legislature has to authorize new spending before then in order to keep the state running Working groups have been meeting since Tuesday mostly in private to finalize details on big spending areas like K- guidance and healthcare and human services which account for two-thirds of state general fund spending Even though it s slower than we would like things are going well It doesn t appear that anyone has quit or given up and that is a very good sign Republican House Speaker Lisa Demuth of Cold Spring recounted reporters Thursday Our expectation is they ll be here working until they can come up with an agreement and move it forward There s been progress on a handful of bills but as of Friday evening there was no residents information on final deals for taxes or the biggest parts of state spending A controversial provision in the budget deal reached by legislative leaders and the governor last week may be slowing progress on the physical condition bill DFLers and Republicans agreed to end state-funded MinnesotaCare soundness insurance for adults in the U S without legal immigration status a benefit DFLers created while in control of state authorities in Republicans agreed to preserve care for children but a large number of Democrats remain strongly opposed Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy of St Paul wants MinnesotaCare cuts to tour as a separate bill but Republicans want it to run with the overall wellness package At a Thursday joint news conference with Demuth House DFL Leader Melissa Hortman of Brooklyn Park commented they hadn t resolved the matter Both the DFL and Republican House leaders revealed they re confident Walz will sign all parts of the budget deal into law and still would approve cuts to immigrant care even if it traveled separately from a broader wellness bill Further complicating matters are the unique dynamics of co-leaders from both parties in the House working with the DFL majority in the Senate The last time the House was tied was in Murphy called the House a two-headed monster It s been more challenging than usual to sew this all together she informed reporters on Thursday Working groups have already passed their leadership-imposed Wednesday deadline to finish work on bills so leaders from both parties revealed they are getting more closely involved They haven t moved to take over the bills for committee chairs yet but the option remains on the table Murphy announced she was skipping cabin plans for the weekend to make sure work gets done As of Friday greater part negotiations have taken place in hearings that are not publicly posted or open to the general constituents A sparse key budget pieces had general hearings on Thursday K- and human services though the tax bill has been the only part that has had daily population hearings since the working group process started The Legislature only passed a handful of the or so budget bills in the regular session On Thursday Hortman noted the commerce workforce and human services bills were close to completion While there had been several trouble with capacity and K- instruction the bulk of the budget deals were approaching completion House leadership sent Reps Paul Torkelson R-Hanska and Zack Stephenson DFL-Coon Rapids to help mediate As of Friday it was unclear if they were any closer to a deal The only ones that are very far from having a fully formed bill ready to post is maybe taxes and maybe physical condition Hortman announced Thursday The rest of them I think you are going to see posted spreadsheets soon and posted language not too long after that Related Articles Inmate rights groups demand say in Stillwater prison closure plan Matt Ehling This open-meeting law change is a concern Undo it legislators MN Legislature Budget negotiations go behind closed doors Legislature begins work on budget deal ahead of special session MN Legislature Pension changes for teachers goes to governor to sign