After called by the governor, the Legislature convened for a special session at 3:05 p.m. Tuesday for the sole purpose of passing a budget. The House adjourned at 3:39 a.m. Wednesday, and the Senate about a minute later. View the votes on individual bills.
During the 12-hour, 34-minute special session (as long as some House debates have gone on one budget bill), lawmakers often went at warp speed, according to media reports. The longest debate on a budget bill lasted slightly more than an hour, the shortest three minutes.
The spurts of speed were interrupted by long waits for bill writing to be finished.
During the debate, rushed so the shutdown could end as quickly as possible, lawmakers voted to keep health-care funding flowing to poor, disabled and elderly Minnesotans; maintain steady aid to cities (including keeping aid for Duluth, St. Paul and Minneapolis that Republicans wanted to eliminate); cut college and university funding 10.5 percent; and fund nearly $500 million in public works projects around the state, according to media reports.
Suspended state services range from parks to a variety of license services, from beer-buying permits to horse-racing track regulators, according to media reports. Those and other state services gradually will return to normal after Dayton signs the bills.
Dayton broke a lengthy budget impasse Thursday when he suggested passing a borrowing plan, with some changes, that Republicans originally suggested June 30 to increase state spending instead of the governor’s idea to increase taxes. That put into motion the intense budget-writing negotiations held in the closed Capitol.
One borrowing mechanism would use future payments from a tobacco lawsuit settlement to repay $640 million of bonds. The other plan delays $700 million in state payments to schools, freeing up the money for state programs.
The borrow-and-delay plan that the GOP suggested to allow for more spending provoked the most debate of the night.
“We are making promises we can’t keep with money we don’t have,” Rep. Paul Marquart, DFL-Dilworth, said.
The special session was limited to budget, public works construction and related bills. A new Vikings football stadium was not part of the session and Dayton did not promise to call one later this year.
Final tallies
Here are votes on the budget bills (in most cases, Republicans favored the bills and Democrats opposed):
Public safety and courts, Senate, 57-7; House, 77-51.
Transportation, House, 71-56; Senate, 38-27.
Higher education, House, 71-57; Senate, 35-30.
Environment, Senate, 43-22; House, 71-57.
Jobs-economic development, Senate, 42-23; House, 76-50.
Taxes, House, 71-57; Senate, 37-27.
Health and human services, House, 71-57; Senate, 37-27.
Education, House, 71-56; Senate, 36-28.
State government, Senate, 40-24; House, 81-47.
Bonding, House, 112-17; Senate, 53-11.
Legacy (clean water, arts, outdoors programs), Senate, 63-0; House, 98-30.
This article is reprinted from the MAPE website.
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After called by the governor, the Legislature convened for a special session at 3:05 p.m. Tuesday for the sole purpose of passing a budget. The House adjourned at 3:39 a.m. Wednesday, and the Senate about a minute later. View the votes on individual bills.
During the 12-hour, 34-minute special session (as long as some House debates have gone on one budget bill), lawmakers often went at warp speed, according to media reports. The longest debate on a budget bill lasted slightly more than an hour, the shortest three minutes.
The spurts of speed were interrupted by long waits for bill writing to be finished.
During the debate, rushed so the shutdown could end as quickly as possible, lawmakers voted to keep health-care funding flowing to poor, disabled and elderly Minnesotans; maintain steady aid to cities (including keeping aid for Duluth, St. Paul and Minneapolis that Republicans wanted to eliminate); cut college and university funding 10.5 percent; and fund nearly $500 million in public works projects around the state, according to media reports.
Suspended state services range from parks to a variety of license services, from beer-buying permits to horse-racing track regulators, according to media reports. Those and other state services gradually will return to normal after Dayton signs the bills.
Dayton broke a lengthy budget impasse Thursday when he suggested passing a borrowing plan, with some changes, that Republicans originally suggested June 30 to increase state spending instead of the governor’s idea to increase taxes. That put into motion the intense budget-writing negotiations held in the closed Capitol.
One borrowing mechanism would use future payments from a tobacco lawsuit settlement to repay $640 million of bonds. The other plan delays $700 million in state payments to schools, freeing up the money for state programs.
The borrow-and-delay plan that the GOP suggested to allow for more spending provoked the most debate of the night.
“We are making promises we can’t keep with money we don’t have,” Rep. Paul Marquart, DFL-Dilworth, said.
The special session was limited to budget, public works construction and related bills. A new Vikings football stadium was not part of the session and Dayton did not promise to call one later this year.
Final tallies
Here are votes on the budget bills (in most cases, Republicans favored the bills and Democrats opposed):
Public safety and courts, Senate, 57-7; House, 77-51.
Transportation, House, 71-56; Senate, 38-27.
Higher education, House, 71-57; Senate, 35-30.
Environment, Senate, 43-22; House, 71-57.
Jobs-economic development, Senate, 42-23; House, 76-50.
Taxes, House, 71-57; Senate, 37-27.
Health and human services, House, 71-57; Senate, 37-27.
Education, House, 71-56; Senate, 36-28.
State government, Senate, 40-24; House, 81-47.
Bonding, House, 112-17; Senate, 53-11.
Legacy (clean water, arts, outdoors programs), Senate, 63-0; House, 98-30.
This article is reprinted from the MAPE website.