The special legislative session that wrapped up Monday in St. Paul wasn’t one where everyone came away happy, area legislators said. However, Rep. Chris Swedzinski and Sen. Gary Dahms said that while they had concerns over parts of the state budget that was passed, there were also some positive outcomes.

“It was obvious there wasn’t as many wins as we would have liked. It was a give-and-take session,” said Swedzinski, R-Ghent.

On Monday, the Minnesota Legislature passed a $66 billion budget, after a one-day special session. The state needed a budget passed by the end of June in order to avoid a state shutdown.

A state shutdown was “not something anybody wants to do,” said Dahms, R-Redwood Falls. But Dahms said he thought the delay in passing a budget wasn’t necessary. “This could have been done six weeks ago,” he said.

In a Tuesday statement, Gov. Tim Walz said he planned to sign the budget into law.

“Against the backdrop of partisan disfunction in Washington, Minnesota is proving that we can still come together and get things done for the people we serve,” Walz said. “With the most closely divided legislature in the country, we passed the largest reduction in state spending in state history and protected the things that make Minnesota the best state in the country to raise a child: universal school meals, paid family and medical leave, tax cuts for seniors, and investments in child care and infrastructure. I applaud the legislators who worked late into the night to get this done and I look forward to signing this budget into law.”

However, Dahms said Tuesday that he had concerns about the actual impact of those spending cuts.

“There’s a difference between reducing spending and shifting spending,” Dahms said. In this case, he said, Minnesota cut state spending by putting the cost burden back onto counties, cities and school districts.

“There was a lot of fee and tax increases this year,” Dahms said. It was also a concern for him. “We just cannot keep raising taxes . . . Eventually it catches up to us.”

One issue that was contentious in the Legislature this year was a proposal to remove undocumented immigrants from the state’s MinnesotaCare health insurance program.

“It ended up being negotiated that someone under 18 would be able to maintain health insurance,” through MinnesotaCare, Dahms said. However, undocumented adults would lose MinnesotaCare coverage at the end of the year.

“I wasn’t very excited about that agreement,” Dahms said. He said he did not think Minnesota should continue to spend on health insurance for undocumented immigrants, at a time when the state was also making spending cuts for nursing homes and special education programs. “I have a problem with that,” he said.

Swedzinski said the decision to end MinnesotaCare coverage for undocumented adults was “a common-sense thing.” The enrollment and costs of MinnesotaCare coverage for undocumented immigrants had exceeded the state’s initial allowance, he said. “Something had to change.”

Legislators did pass a $700 million bonding bill, which includes funding for public infrastructure projects, and facilities maintenance at college and university campuses. Swedzinski said the bill was “very nuts and bolts,” which was why it had strong support.

“This was probably one of the better bonding bills. It didn’t have a lot of pet projects in it,” Dahms said. “We’re going to get a lot of good things done that need to be done.”

One topic that came up frequently at legislative town hall meetings in Marshall this year was the possibility of reforms to Minnesota’s new earned sick and safe time laws. Area business owners wanted to know if sick and safe time requirements could be rolled back for small businesses.

“The changes we wanted, we were not able to get,” Dahms said.

Swedzinski said the costs of the sick and safe time laws would hit small businesses and local governments hardest, and would put southwest Minnesota at a disadvantage compared to competitors like South Dakota. “In general, we’re going to see a shortage of workforce because of it,” he said.

Swedzinski said there were also a couple of positive measures passed by the Legislature this spring. Legislators did take action to try and speed up the environmental permit process for businesses. Swedzinski said he was also happy to see the state eliminate the shotgun-only hunting zone in southern Minnesota.

“We’ve been working a long time for that,” Swedzinski said. The changes to Minnesota hunting zones would take affect in the 2026 hunting season, he said.