DFL House Speaker of the House Melissa Hortman and Republican Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka failed to agree on a two-year state budget but indicate they are making progress. Even if a deal were made today, the work to process omnibus bills could not be completed before the official end of the session at 11:59 p.m. on Monday. The Governor plans to call a special session around June 14 to keep his emergency powers, which ensures a continuation of several Covid-19 funding streams from the federal government. With the lifting of the mask requirement and loosening of other Covid restrictions, Senator Gazelka seems open to the Governor maintaining a handful of executive orders for the federal funding.
Top-level negotiations continue after the end of session, but transparency is lost. Conference committees do not meet, which removes the public's ability to participate in the process. All decisions are made behind closed doors as legislative leaders work with conference committee chairs to agree on budget and policy provisions. Legislative leaders are hopeful that by June 14, legislators can return for a few days to pass all 14 omnibus bills. If they miss this arbitrary deadline, the stakes become higher. On June 30, the current budget ends, and the state begins to shut down. For instance, nursing home staff will not get paid, and state parks close.
