Walz calls special session with lots of work in short timeframe
The Brief
Gov. Walz has called for a special session on Monday, three weeks after the regular session ended without a complete budget agreement.
Republicans' push to cut undocumented adults out of MN Care will travel in a standalone bill, not in the health bill. But the health bill will include a provision that the Department of Health gets no funding if the standalone bill doesn't become law.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - It took 18 days, but Minnesota finally has a special session scheduled to finish a budget and avoid a government shutdown.
One and only
Monday is the big day and, if things go as planned, the only day.
Legislative leaders and Gov. Tim Walz hammered out some details on what they said were the hardest bills to hash out.So, for instance, the Republican plan to cut MN Care for undocumented adults will be a standalone bill, not in the health bill.But the health bill will include language saying the Department of Health gets no funding unless that standalone bill passes.Compromises and guarantees like that have them very close to the finish line.
Short timeline
House leaders Lisa Demuth and Melissa Hortman walked to the podium together Friday, poised to start a sprint to the finish line.A signed agreement shows the 14 bills they plan to pass in 21 hours starting Monday at 10 a.m., including a new bill and another previously on life support.
"There will be a standalone data center bill and there will a bonding bill and so since some of those pieces came together pretty late last night," said Speaker Emerita Hortman (DFL-Brooklyn Park).
Data centers will lock in some tax breaks for 35 years in exchange for losing an exemption on electricity.
In total, the 2026-27 budget will cut about $5 billion from the last two years and leave almost a $2 billion surplus.
Getting there hasn't come easy.
"You'll hear that not everybody is happy about every part of it, and that's to be expected," said Speaker of the House Demuth (R-Cold Spring).
Winds of change?
And the bills could still change.
County commissioners blasted the transportation agreement Friday for taking half their regional sales tax proceeds and giving it to the Met Council for Bus Rapid Transit projects.
"I truly feel at multiple levels our partnership between the state and the local government is being betrayed and broken," said Scott County Commissioner Jody Brennan.
Amendments are still possible, but all four legislative leaders and Gov. Walz would have to agree on any changes from now on."As far as other land mines, there could always be, but I feel confident in the agreements that we have," said Demuth.
The special session agreement calls for them to get everything done in one day, which technically means they can go until 7 a.m. on Tuesday.
Leaders say they can get it done, but it's possible they'll still need more time, which would bring about a whole new set of problems.
Delayed for now
Because a government shutdown would be 21 days away, furlough notices are supposed to go out to every non-essential state worker on Monday. But legislative leaders and the governor are working with unions to push that back a day.
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