The end. Sort of but not really.
The morning after the Minnesota Legislature adjourns
The end. Sort of but not really.
May 19, 2015 at 4:00PM
"So that just happened." A Tweet from a couple different people just after midnight this morning as the legislative session ended in chaotic fashion.
Veterans say it happens every session, the result of the parliamentary deadline and the human urge to procrastinate (and hope and hold out for the best deal possible).
With just minutes to go before midnight, the Senate took up and then passed a "lights on" jobs bill, a status quo bill that was the result of a stalemate between House and Senate conferees. Still, that means it was millions of dollars and lots of provisions and more than 90 pages long.
It got to the House with a minute or two to go before the adjournment deadline and passed amidst a lot of shouting from the DFL minority. The AP's Brian Bakst reports this morning that the last bill to pass House was announced by the clerk as HF1077, which was not the jobs bill (HF1437.) Bakst's story.
Also, the Senate did not pass the Legacy bill that passed the House, though Legacy isn't required to keep the gears of state government moving. It's just millions of dollars of projects that people worked months, sometimes years on. Also, no bonding bill despite plans for one.
Even with all that, what really matters is that the Legislature passed an education budget bill Gov. Mark Dayton says he will veto, which means a special session is inevitable. Other vetoes are possible.
No public schedule yet from Dayton. The House chamber is being dismantled, to make way for construction crews as part of the $300 million Capitol renovation project.
Main story from Pat Condon and Ricardo Lopez.
Abby Simons on the huge dustup with the state auditor and the privatization of audits.
AP: Buffer plan passes, but enviros don't like a lot of other provisions in the enviro bill, which was crafted by House Republicans and Ranger Sen. Tomassoni, so we'll see if Dayton signs.
Allison Sherry with fight between EPA and ranchers and counties on water.
A Minnesota angle on the trade deal, from Jim Spencer.
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