Politics & Government

UPDATE: Dayton Signs Budget Bills Wednesday Morning

The Legislature had passed all the bills by 3:45 a.m. Wednesday, and ended their special session.

UPDATE: Gov. Mark Dayton at 9 a.m. Wednesday signed the 12 bills the Minnesota Legislature passed in the wee hours of the morning, to end the state government shutdown. According to MPR and several other news outlets, the Legislature's passed all the bills by 3:45 a.m. Wednesday, ending their special session.

FROM 1:05 a.m. WEDNESDAY: As of 1 a.m. Wednesday, eight bills were on their way to Gov. Mark Dayton's office to be signed into law. Two additional bills had been passed in the House but not the Senate.

Dayton had said he would not sign any bills until all 12 had passed the House and Senate.

Between 7 and 8 p.m. Tuesday, the process was moving along smoothly. Within 45 minutes, the Senate passed six bills and the House passed five. Then they recessed.

Lawmakers adjourned to discuss some of the most contentious and complex pieces of upcoming legislation. The bills: health and human services, taxes, K-12 education, pension, state government and a bonding bill.

When the parties reconvened at 9:30 p.m., the finger-pointing began.

“This budget is morally bankrupt,” Rep. Ryan Winkler (DFL-Golden Valley) said while debating on the House floor. “The GOP are the first majority to leave the state worse off than they found it financially.”

Minority Leader Paul Thissen (DFL-Minneapolis) said: “This is a beg, borrow and steal budget. It borrows and steals from Minnesota’s future and begs the people of our state to look the other way as once again [Republicans] simply kick the can down the road. ... Republicans have nothing to be proud of today. In fact, Republicans have every reason to hang your heads in shame.”

GOP House Majority Leader Matt Dean (R-Dellwood) fired back at DFL counterparts, accusing them of forgetting to do their jobs by balancing the budget and “dragging [Minnesota] into a shutdown.”

Prior to when lawmakers recovened at 9:30 p.m., Sen. Chris Gerlach (R-District 37), Apple Valley, with what the bills accomplished, considering the compromises that had to be made. He said he would vote in favor of all the bills. [Read more from Gerlach in ]

Listed below are the special session bills and the votes that passed them, as of the end of the special session:

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Find out what's happening in Apple Valley-Rosemountwith free, real-time updates from Patch.


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