SAINT PAUL —A special session will be needed to complete work on the state budget. The Legislature adjourned the 2025 session on May 19 after passing several of the budget bills needed to fund state government for the next two years. However, a special session will be needed to pass the Education, Energy/Environment, Health and Human Services, Higher Education, Labor, Transportation, Tax, and Bonding bills. The Omnibus Education Policy Bill was not approved either and will have to be addressed in the special session.
Legislative leaders have established a working group plan to resolve differences in the remaining budget bills. The working group members will be those who were appointed to a conference committee during the regular session. Conference committees were not appointed for the Education and Tax Bills so leaders will appoint members to serve on those working groups. The plan includes a deadline for the working groups to finish their work by 5 p.m. Wednesday.
Once agreements have been reached on all the outstanding budget bills, Gov. Walz will call a special session.The next significant deadline is June 1 — the date by which layoff notices would have to be sent to state employees in agencies that have not been funded for the next two years. The ultimate deadline is June 30 — the end of the fiscal year. Agencies that have not had a budget approved by then would shut down.
