Governor Tim Walz has called a special session of the legislature for 10 o’clock Friday morning with a deadline to wrap up the state budget by 7 a-m Saturday morning — the start of the Memorial Day weekend. But it might not happen that soon, because House Republicans are balking at “fast-tracking” the bills. Minority Leader Kurt Daudt says, “I think it’s perfectly reasonable to say that the public should have time to review what’s in these bills, and certainly we as members of the legislature should get to see what’s in the bills.”
House Republicans have been asking for concessions in exchange for speeding-up passage of the budget, but Democrats apparently aren’t willing. House Speaker Melissa Hortman says it’s a “great budget deal” and she’s “not worried… at all” about it falling apart if the special session goes past Memorial Day. “We’ll either enact that into law taking a short period of time, or taking a few more days,” Hortman says.
It remains to be seen whether the possibility of working into the Memorial Day weekend changes the minds of lawmakers who are refusing to “fast-track” passage of the rest of the state budget.