Budget-setting Session Reaches Deadline, but Show May Go On

Budget Deadline Bearing Down on Minnesota Lawmakers

A midnight deadline for the Minnesota Legislature to approve a new two-year budget is bearing down on lawmakers, who could see their stay in St. Paul extended by a rift over preschool.

Working through the night, the GOP-led House voted along party lines early Monday for a $17 billion education plan with $400 million in new school spending.

Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton says he’ll veto the bill because it leaves out money for a preschool expansion initiative at the core of his agenda.

It’s all part of a two-year $42 billion state budget that a split-power Legislature struggled to pull together.

Legislative leaders insist they’ll finish by the deadline. But an education veto, or any others in the budget, would lead to a special session in coming weeks.