Staples, Minn.,
19
June
2019
|
17:17 PM
Europe/Amsterdam

Update from the Capitol - June 2019

With less than 24 hours remaining in the 2019 legislative session, Gov. Tim Walz, Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, and House Speaker Melisssa Hortman came to an agreement and announced a broad budget for each omnibus finance bill. While this provided an insufficient amount of time to complete the regular session on time, it did mark the end of months-long negotiations and provided the way to end of the regular session. The agreement outlines the specifics of the legislation that remained unconsidered, and provided for the parameters of the special session.

Without fanfare, the legislature adjourned the session at midnight on May 20, but legislators continued working to get their bills in final order as Governor Walz waited to call a special session to finalize the agreedupon legislation.

Following adjournment of the regular session, legislators completed their omnibus bills and ironed out differences between the Senate and House of Representatives bills to align with the broader agreement. That universal agreement called for a one-day special session to pass the remaining budget bills needed to fund the state government for the next two years. It also prescribed an adjournment time before 7 a.m. Saturday, ensuring the legislators completed their work and considered only the items necessary for the state budget.

Within that 24-hour timeframe, the Legislature considered and passed 13 omnibus bills and finished the work that began in January. The $45 billion state budget for 2020-21 will go into effect on July 1. Ultimately, none of the contentious items that had held up the regular legislative session were included in the final budget package that was passed.

Both the League of Minnesota Cities and Association of Minnesota Counties have additional information on the final budget agreement.

The next legislative session will convene Feb. 11.

About Sourcewell

Sourcewell (formerly National Joint Powers Alliance) is a self-supporting government organization, partnering with education, government, and nonprofits to boost student and community success. Created in 1978 as one of Minnesota’s nine service cooperatives, we offer training and shared services to our central-Minnesota members. Throughout North America, we offer a cooperative purchasing program with over 300 awarded vendors on contract. Sourcewell is driven by service and the ability to strategically reinvest in member communities.