David Taintor July 18, 2011, 9:36 AM

What seemed like a quick end to Minnesota’s government shutdown is proving to take a bit longer.

Lawmakers worked over the weekend on language that reflects the budget deal Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton and Republican lawmakers agreed upon last week. The deal is a compromise on a GOP budget offer made on June 30, just before the state’s shutdown. It involves delaying more money to K-12 and borrowing money from future tobacco payments. Critics describe it as a quick fix, not a long-term budget solution.

Regardless, Dayton, Republican House Speaker Kurt Zellers and Republican Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch cited progress over the weekend.
“Work on the detailed budget bills continues to move in a positive direction, with an urgent focus on getting Minnesotans back to work,” the lawmakers said in a joint statement. “For the last three days, the Governor, Legislative leaders, committee chairs, commissioners and staff have worked around the clock on legislative language that reflects Thursday’s agreement. Considerable progress has been made. A special session will be called as soon as our work is completed, and all bills have been reviewed and agreed upon.”

Once lawmakers finally agree on the budget details, the House and Senate still have to pass the final deal. As the Star Tribune reports, it’s unclear how both Democrats and Republicans would vote on it. Meanwhile, the state’s 22,000 laid off employees wait to get back to work.

Amy Koch, Budget, Government Shutdown, Kurt Zellers, Mark Dayton, Minnesota, Minnesota Shutdown