Minnesota Legislature: Session Ends with No Budget Agreement

A balanced budget remained out of reach when the Minnesota House of Representative adjourned at midnight.

“The session is closing without a balanced budget—the first time since I got here that we failed. Only a committed majority can get it done,” Rep. Ryan Winkler (DLF-Golden Valley) wrote on his Twitter account as the session closed.

The House also failed to pass the Legacy funding proposal, despite its Senate approval. Legacy funding—separate money from the state budget—provides $450 million for the outdoor heritage, clean water, parks and trails, and arts and cultural heritage funds.

As the House debated twice throughout the night on the proposal, both local representatives Winkler and Rep. Lyndon Carlson (DFL- 45B) spoke on the floor to advocate sending it back to committee, saying the proposal was flawed.

The main sticking point: the proposal’s requirement for the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council to operate under legislative open meeting laws.

Carlson said he hoped members would “recognize the importance” of changing the rule and send it back to committee.

“As long as you’re unwilling to compromise, no legacy funds will be spent,” Winkler said late Monday. “… There is no reason to send a flawed piece of leg out of this body just because some groups outside of the capitol want us to do it.”

After a lengthy debate, the proposal was sent back to committee and the House adjourned before a vote.

“We have been here at the Capitol for over four months, seeking an equitable and reasonable solution to fill the state’s budget deficit,” Sen. Ron Latz (DFL - 44) said in a press release Tuesday afternoon. “Gov. Dayton has unilaterally compromised three times on his budget proposal, but Republican legislators have refused to offer even one compromise counteroffer in response.  I ask my GOP colleagues—now the majority party—to work with the Governor in a way that will benefit all Minnesotans.”

Sen. Latz noted that the all-cuts budget supported by the Republican majorities in the House and Senate is the “wrong choice for Minnesota.”

Now the legislature awaits word from Gov. Mark Dayton on whether he will veto the budget proposals sent over the past few days of session. If Dayton does not sign the budget proposals, a special session may be called to avert a government shutdown.