UPDATE: SHUTDOWN OVER: Lakeville Rep. Talks About Shutdown, Budget Deal

(UPDATE: 1:06 p.m., July 20)

Gov. Mark Dayton this morning 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 shutdown of Minnesota government—at 20 days, it was the longest continuous shutdown of any state government in United States in the last decade.

One of Lakeville's representatives is happy it's done.

"I'm happy that the government shutdown has ended," State Rep. Pat Garofalo (R-District 36B), of Farmington, told Lakeville Patch. "The people of Minnesota deserve a functioning government that their tax dollars are paying for."

Garofalo said the budget that was passed isn't perfect, but "it does contain significant reductions in spending and reforms (to) how we spend current dollars.

"Had the demands from others for higher spending and tax increases been dropped earlier, we could have avoided a shutdown," Garofalo said. "I was opposed to a shutdown but it was necessary to stop the runaway spending that others were asking for."

Both houses of the Legislature spent the night tweaking and voting on the 12 bills that make up the state's budget—finally finishing at nearly 4 a.m. In the end, 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 the marathon 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.

Rep. Ryan Winkler (DFL-Golden Valley) 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:   

Special Session Bills
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

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(UPDATE: 8:20 a.m., July 20)

After 20 days, Gov. Mark Dayton at 9 a.m. will sign a two-year state budget into law that will end what ha sbeen the nation's longest state government shutdown in more than a decade.

Both the senate and house finished voting on the various pieces of the budget shortly after 4 a.m., nearly 13 hours after the special session began.

Lakeville Patch will have more on the details once they emerge.

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(UPDATE: 1 a.m., July 20)

As of 1 a.m. Wednesday, eight bills were on their way to Gov. Mark Dayton's office to be signed into law. An additional bill had been passed in the House but not the Senate.

Dayton has said he would not sign any bills until all 12 had passed the House and Senate.

Between the hours of 7 and 8 p.m. Tuesday, the process was moving along smoothly. Within 45 minutes, the Senate passed six bills and the House passed five. Then they recessed.

Lawmakers adjourned to discuss some of the most contentious and complex pieces of upcoming legislation. The bills: health and human services, taxes, K-12 education, bonding, pension and state government.

When the parties reconvened at 9:30 p.m., the finger-pointing began.

“This budget is morally bankrupt,” Rep. Ryan Winkler (DFL-Golden Valley) said while debating on the House floor. “The GOP are the first majority to leave the state worse off than they found it financially.”

Minority Leader Paul Thissen (DFL-Minneapolis) added: “This is a beg, borrow and steal budget. It borrows and steals from Minnesota’s future and begs the people of our state to look the other way as once again (Republicans) simply kick the can down the road. ... Republicans have nothing to be proud of today. In fact, Republicans have every reason to hang your heads in shame.”

GOP House Majority Leader Matt Dean (R-Dellwood) fired back at DFL counterparts, accusing them of forgetting to do their jobs by balancing the budget and “dragging (Minnesota) into a shutdown.”  

As it stands, listed below are the bills and the votes that passed them:   
Special Session Bills
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:
House Health & Human Services bill:

Senate K-12 education bill:
House K-12 education bill:

Senate State Government bill:
House State Government bill:

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:
House Bonding bill: 112-17

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(UPDATE: 9:15 p.m., July 19)

It took less than an hour’s work for Minnesota lawmakers, who reconvened this afternoon, to pass five bills, the first of several that Gov. Mark Dayton is expected to sign.

"It's running pretty smoothly this evening," Rep. Kelby Woodard (R-Northfield) told Northfield Patch at 9 p.m.

The House and Senate took their seats in the Legislature at around 3 p.m., opened the special session, observed a moment of silence for the late Sen. Linda Scheid (D-Brooklyn Park) and then recessed for more than three hours.

When they reconvened at around 7 p.m., they got to work. Within an hour, the Senate had passed six bills; the House had passed five. The Legislature then went into recess again; lawmakers are expected back at their desks later this evening.

Woodard said he is hopeful that all the bills will be signed before midnight, but said the process could stretch into the early hours of Wednesday morning.

"It's going to be a little time," he said, nothing that regardless of when the bills are signed, it's important to get them signed and get 22,000 state employees back to work.

As it stands now, listed below are the bills and the votes that passed them:   

Minnesota Senate
Judiciary/Public Safety bill: 57-7
Environment bill: 43-22
Jobs and Economic Growth bill: 42-23
Transportation bill: 38-27
Higher education bill: 35-30
Legacy bill: 65-0

Minnesota House of Representatives
Transportation bill: 71-56
Higher education bill: 71-57
Judiciary/Public Safety bill: 77-51
Environment bill: 71-57
Jobs and Economic Growth bill: 76-50

Woodard said he was "pretty happy" to see bipartisan support on some bills, most notably the Public Safety bill.

The remaining bills include some of the most complex and contentious pieces of legislature faced this session. They include: legacy (House only), health and human services, taxes, K-12 education, bonding, pension and state government.

Dayton has maintained that he will not sign any bills until all 12 have passed both the House and Senate.