Gov. Tim Walz and legislative leaders were reportedly working all weekend to come up with a budget plan for the state that could be approved at a special session the governor is calling for today. We’re not sure how they were doing because of the closed door negotiations, but we supppose a lot of the wheeling and dealing was more about policy matters than budgets.

Republicans are still annoyed with the governor’s use of emergency powers during the COVID-19 pandemic, an issue that will come up again today. The governor needs legislative approval every 30 days to extend the emergency powers, and in every special session he has called on the issue, Republicans have voted to end those powers, while Democrats, who control the House, have voted to extend. We expect that will happen again today.

There are also questions on policing reform bills, how to shut down the emergency eviction moratorium without suddenly kicking people out into the street, and education priorities for the state.

We’ll see how well the state’s leaders are at compromising and getting the work done today. It shouldn’t be that hard, especially given the reports showing the state’s revenues are rolling in much faster that anticipated.