As budget negotiations between Gov. Tim Walz and Minnesota legislators begin, it seems likely that neither Walz nor state lawmakers will get everything they want, Sen. Gary Dahms said. However, he said, “There’s a lot of opportunity to get things done.”

“I’m pretty confident we can get some good things out of this legislative session,” Dahms, R-Redwood Falls, said Thursday.

With two and a half weeks left in the session, Dahms said legislators had made good progress.

“We’re really in pretty good shape,” compared to some past legislative sessions, he said. Both the House and Senate had passed major omnibus bills, which will be headed to conference committee meetings.

One of the bills passed this week was the Senate’s tax bill. The tax bill was passed Wednesday with bipartisan support, Dahms’ office announced.

“This bill protects Minnesotans,” Dahms said. Among other provisions, the Senate bill includes a .25% tax rate cut to the second-tier income tax bracket, with further rate reductions in tax year 2022. The bill also expands the ability for businesses and farmers to deduct equipment purchases, and expands the K-12 education tax credit to include preschool expenses. Dahms said the tax bill would also allow senior citizens to keep more of their Social Security dollars, by increasing the income tax subtraction from $4,500 to $6,150.

“When the state has a surplus, Minnesota taxpayers deserve some relief. The Senate’s tax bill provides that relief,” Dahms said.

Dahms said the next stop for House and Senate omnibus bills would be conference committee meetings today and Saturday.

“They’ll be working on our budget targets,” he said.

Although there are some key differences between legislators’ targets and the governor’s, Dahms said he thought they will be able to find some common ground. He said Walz has been upfront that in the negotiation process, there will be some things he wants that he’s not going to get, and some things legislators want but don’t get.