ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - The Latest on budget negotiations as time winds down at the Minnesota Legislature (all times local):
8:10 p.m.
Gov. Mark Dayton says the odds of wrapping up a new state budget on time are “on a knife’s edge.”
Republicans who control the Legislature struck out on their own Friday, planning to pass a budget without Dayton’s approval. The two sides had been meeting all week to hash out a deal but made little progress in agreeing to a $45 billion-plus budget.
Dayton said Friday night he was blindsided by the GOP’s choice to send. The two parties will meet Saturday morning in hopes of reaching an agreement.
Dayton says some of the GOP’s proposed extra funding for public schools and other government programs will help. But he took issue with their plans for $660 million in tax breaks, saying that was too much.
They have until midnight Monday.
8:00 p.m.
Republican legislative leaders say they’ll send Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton another budget in hopes that he signs it.
The two sides have been meeting all week to strike a deal on a new two-year budget but made little progress. The Legislature must finish its work by midnight Monday.
GOP leaders announced Friday the framework of a budget that Dayton hadn’t approved. It’s a repeat of an earlier maneuver when they sent Dayton budget bills that were promptly vetoed.
But House Speaker Kurt Daudt says it’s an effort at “true compromise.” It has much more funding for public schools that Dayton wanted and $660 million in tax breaks - half of what the GOP had originally hoped for.
Daudt says they’ll keep tweaking the bills to get the governor’s approval.
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