On its final weekend to pass bills, the Minnesota Legislature appeared on course for a special session to finish work on the next two-year state budget, as questions remain on whether a bipartisan deal announced last week will hold.

The Minnesota Senate on Sunday night in a 34-33 vote passed a public safety bill that includes the closure of the 111-year-old state prison in Stillwater. It’s a key part of the budget deal that could save the state money as it looks to confront a multibillion-dollar deficit later this decade.

The plan to shut the prison down over the next four years will go into motion when Democratic-Farmer-Labor Gov. Tim Walz signs the bill into law. Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, said closing the aging prison makes sense for safety reasons the Department of Corrections had warned of for years.

“I think Minnesotans can have confidence in a very phased approach on this issue and confidence in the reasoning,” she said. “Especially if they recognize that the people who live, who are incarcerated at, and the people who work at the prison are at a high level of danger in work that already comes with a great deal of risk.”Republicans opposed the bill, which was a compromise between the Senate and House known as a conference committee report. They argued there wasn’t enough discussion of the proposal, which only became public Thursday, and that closing a prison that incarcerates around 1,200 and employs more than 500 could place strain on the state’s corrections system.

“I think Minnesotans are sick of backroom deals with major policy changes being slipped into conference committee reports,” said Sen. Michael Kreun, R-Blain, “It’s bad government. And it’s in this case it’s going to make Minnesota less safe.”

Limited time

On Friday and over the weekend, lawmakers took up several less controversial bills, including a housing bill, the veterans budget, K-12 education policy and spending, and a pension bill.

But after backlash to a proposal to end state-funded health insurance for people without legal immigration status, a bill containing those changes hadn’t moved forward as of Sunday night.

The regular session ends Monday, and lawmakers have to pass a two-year budget by the end of June 30 or the state government shuts down. As of Sunday afternoon, the Legislature was all but guaranteed to enter overtime.

In the last decade, there has been a special session every time control of government is split between the parties. Legislative leaders agree it’s likely they’ll have to return to the Capitol to finish the budget. How long that will take is still hard to say, though leaders have said they hope it’ll only take a day or two.

Budget deal

Walz, as well as leaders from the Senate DFL majority and the 67-67 tied House, announced their budget deal Thursday.

If it makes it through in its current form, the state would have a two-year budget of more than $66 billion. It aims to control spending growth in social services and education to address a projected $6 billion budget shortfall later this decade. It’s down from the last budget, which topped $70 billion. There are small tweaks to state taxes.

Besides the continuing debate on immigrant health care, a few other budget and policy areas remain in flux. A group of Democratic-Farmer-Labor and Republican legislators is still trying to make changes to new employee benefits the DFL-controlled state government created in 2023.

Sen. Judy Seeberger, DFL-Afton, and Rep. Dave Baker, R-Willmar, on Saturday told reporters they continue to push for more exemptions for small businesses from the paid family and medical leave system set to start in 2026.

Education

Another benefit targeted by Republicans this year appears to remain intact. As part of a deal on education spending, unemployment insurance for hourly school employees like bus drivers and cafeteria staff will remain funded through 2028.

Education budget bills headed to a conference committee to reconcile differences between the House and Senate versions will preserve the benefit, which DFLers granted in 2023. Most of the $100 million in funding comes from a planned Duluth-Twin Cities passenger rail project that never got underway.

An impasse over that benefit initially hampered budget efforts, but as part of a broader budget deal announced Thursday, the issue appeared to have been resolved.

The education budget makes up around one-third of the current $71 billion two-year state budget. Under the deal, education spending will remain level for the next two years other than the required inflation-tied increases.

Other bills

The final version of the veterans affairs budget bill passed in the Senate and the House on Saturday and is headed to the governor’s desk.

Overall, the bill provides about $365 million in the next two years and increases spending by about $50 million in large part to help fund state veterans homes.

Money goes towards veteran suicide prevention and a pension credit for National Guard members deployed for state active duty, such as in natural disasters. It also recognizes Southeast Asian special guerrilla units that fought for the U.S. during the Vietnam War.

On Sunday the House and Senate passed an agriculture budget, and a pensions bill that aims to boost funding for retirements for the State Patrol and other public employees.