Dayton Signs Budget Bills, Shutdown Over

Insults were hurled. Accusations were made. Pleas were ignored. But in the end, the people’s business was finished.

At 9 a.m., Gov. Mark Dayton signed into law all 12 budget bills passed in the middle of the night Wednesday by the Minnesota House and Senate. Dayton’s signatures ended the 20-day shutdown of Minnesota government.

Dayton kept his promise that he wouldn’t sign any of the bills until all 12 had passed through both houses of the legislature.

At the start of this special session, it seemed as though the process would be over quickly. In its first hour, the Senate passed six of 12 bills while the House passed five. But by 1 a.m. Wednesday, just eight bills were ready to be sent to the governor, with the House passing an additional two.

At that point, the legislative finish line was still well out of sight. As expected, the bills on taxes, health and human services, K-12 education and state government garnered the most spirited debates on the House floor.

St. Louis Park Rep. Ryan Winkler (DFL-District 44B) called the Republican-written budget “morally bankrupt,” and Minority Leader Paul Thissen (DFL-Minneapolis) said Republicans had “every reason to hang (their) heads in shame.” House Majority Leader Matt Dean (R-Dellwood) countered by accusing DFLers of forgetting to do their jobs and “dragging (Minnesota) into a shutdown.”

In the end, the budget went the way most people expected it to go after Dayton, on July 14, accepted the Republican budget proposal, without the policy provisions first attached to the budget when it was first presented on June 30.   

Listed below are the bills and the votes that passed them:   

Senate Judiciary/Public Safety bill: 57-7
House Judiciary/Public Safety bill: 77-51

Senate Environment bill: 43-22
House Environment bill: 71-57

Senate Jobs and Economic Growth bill: 42-23
House Jobs and Economic Growth bill: 76-50

Senate Transportation bill: 38-27
House Transportation bill: 71-56

Senate Higher education bill: 35-30
House Higher education bill: 71-57

Senate Health & Human Services bill: 37-27
House Health & Human Services bill: 71-57

Senate K-12 education bill: 36-28
House K-12 education bill: 71-56

Senate State Government bill: 40-24
House State Government bill: 81-47

Senate Legacy bill: 65-0
House Legacy bill: 98-30

Senate Pension bill: 61-3
House Pension bill: 115-12

Senate Taxes bill: 37-27
House Taxes bill: 71-57

Senate Bonding bill: 53-11
House Bonding bill: 112-17