Hello from the State Capitol,
The 2025 legislative session has ended, and though we have completed our budget work in numerous areas of state government, there are several other areas that remain unfinished.
Late last week, legislative leaders and Governor Walz announced that an agreement had been reached on a state budget framework.
With leadership having agreed on the broad parameters of our next budget, joint House/Senate conference committees worked on the specifics within each area of their respective areas within government. This weekend, we approved several of these compromise finance proposals, such as public safety, agriculture, and state government. But others, like the health and transportation conference committees, came close but did not finalize agreements before adjournment, which means a special session is needed to finish things up.
The overall budget framework agreement provides the largest cut to government spending in state history. It eliminates nearly half of the projected budget deficit Democrats created when they grew government by 40% and raised taxes by $10 billion two years ago, and no Minnesota family will see a tax increase.
My best guess is the governor will wait until all of the remaining House/Senate conference committee reports are finalized before calling a very limited special session, which I believe will happen in the coming days.
I will be sure to keep you updated on our progress.
Talk to you soon,
Marj