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Down to the wire

The Minnesota Legislature was cutting it close, as usual, on Wednesday. While most of the state’s budget bills have been passed and signed, legislators were still working on an education funding bill that will pump $1.2 billion more into the state’s classrooms over the next four years. This is money that will be going to school districts largely through the general fund formula, giving school districts the ability to spend it where they need it. We hope they passed it by midnight last night to prevent repercussions in school programs this year.

One thing the Republicans managed to do, with the assistance of some DFLers in the House, was to finally wrestle the emergency powers away from Gov. Tim Walz. They have been trying to do that for over a year, and finally succeeded, after Walz said he had reached a deal with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to protect emergency food aid payments to needy Minnesotans under the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program. and didn’t need the emergency powers anymore. Republicans still claimed victory, saying they force him to relinquish those powers he had held for so long. Whatever.

In the meantime, with a few loose ends to tie up, this marathon legislative session, which started last January, is finally concluding. We’re glad it’s over, but we do wish it could be done with less struggle.

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