Minnesota lawmakers strike a deal on state budget, Gov. Tim Walz calls Monday special session

Nathaniel Minor, Star Tribune on Jun 6, 2025

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MINNEAPOLIS — Gov. Tim Walz and Minnesota’s narrowly divided Legislature have struck a deal on the state budget and will return to St. Paul on Monday to finish their work.

Walz and legislative leaders announced Friday they’ve agreed to a one-day special session that must adjourn before 7 a.m. Tuesday. Their two-page signed agreement, which came after weeks of behind-the-scenes dealmaking, could avert a scenario where parts of government shut down without a budget.

In a statement, Walz said the bipartisan budget agreement will make necessary spending cuts and is the result of “hundreds of hours of good-faith, bipartisan debate.”

“While all sides had to make concessions in order to reach a compromise, I’m grateful to our legislative partners for their collaboration and dedication to moving Minnesota forward,” he said.

Legislators and the governor did not finish passing most of the large bills that make up the state’s two-year budget before the regular legislative session ended May 19.

They’ve blown deadline after self-imposed deadline since then, but the stakes are only getting higher with each passing day: Budget bills must be signed into law by July 1 or much of the state government will shut down then.

Already, the state has sent out layoff notices to hundreds of nurses and tens of thousands of notices will go out to more state employees on Monday.

Their agreement will limit amendments to the 14 outstanding budget bills. They also agreed to suspend rules requiring multiple hearings for bills, which will speed along the process.

Legislative leaders and Walz, who negotiated a basic budget framework during session, have pointed to the near-tie in the Legislature as the main reason for the delay. Democrats hold a single-vote majority in the Senate and the House is evenly split between Democrats and Republicans.

Lawmakers have been meeting mostly in private over the last few weeks to discuss lengthy budget bills, only emerging into public view once they had settled their differences.

A long human services bill, for example, that would cut $255 million from disability services was published only on Wednesday afternoon. It was the subject of a public hearing the lasted for more than two on Thursday, but much of that time was taken by non-partisan staff describing what was in the 300-plus-page bill.

Legislators are still working on a transportation budget bill, which is set to get a public hearing at 2 p.m. Friday, as well as a tax bill.

The signed agreement includes taking up a bill to modify a 2023 law that allowed undocumented immigrants to get health care access through MinnesotaCare. Leaders agreed to strip access to the program for adult undocumented immigrants but preserve it for children.

The special session will also include a borrowing package of construction projects across the state, known as the bonding bill. Bonding bills require a three-fifths majority to pass, so buy-in is needed from both parties.

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