Gov. Mark Dayton and legislative leaders remained locked in negotiations today after they failed to meet a 10 p.m. Friday deadline for having all budget bills in place.
The biggest sticking points remain the bills on Health and Human Services, K-12 education and state government.
But despite the complexity of those three bills, Taxes Committee Chair Sen. Julianne Ortman (R-Chanhassen) said today’s talks made “very good progress” compared to those on Friday.
After a short break this afternoon, the Taxes Committee reconvened at 5 p.m.
The aim, Rep. Linda Runbeck (R-Circle Pines) said, was to present a finished bill to the governor as quickly as possible. “We’re making progress. It’s all down to small details,” Runbeck said before returning to the negotiations.
Capital Investment Committee Chair David Senjem also reported progress on a $500 million bonding package for the state's roads and bridges, which was a condition of the governor’s acceptance of the GOP budget on Thursday.
“We are 80 to 90 percent of the way there,” Senjem told reporters this afternoon.
By the time of publication, legislative leaders had given no indication of how long they would meet Saturday night.
Dayton has maintained that he will only call a special session once negotiations are finished and he approves the bills. The shutdown will end once the bills are signed.
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