Three weeks left in legislative session: Can lawmakers agree on tax cuts, education, public safety?

Three weeks remain in the legislative session and, although Democrats and Republicans hammered out a belated compromise on COVID hero pay and Unemployment Insurance, many question whether two sides very far apart on other major issues can get a deal by May 23rd.  House Speaker, Democrat Melissa Hortman says:

“I do think, after lots more communication with Senator (Jeremy) Miller (Majority Leader), that the Senate is really interested in passing budget bills and a tax bill.   I know that they’re keenly interested in it, at a minimum, passing a couple of budget bills and a tax bill.   So I think there’s still plenty of leverage on the table.”

But a wide gap separates Democrats from Republicans on tax cuts, education spending and public safety — and because it’s not a regular budget year, state government won’t shut down July 1st if there’s no agreement.