Hortman said now that this week has been ruled out for a special session, the next deadline might be to finish before June 1, when layoff notices would have to go out to state workers warning of a possible partial government shutdown.

In the place of committee meetings, lawmakers are meeting in working groups to go over the budget. With the exception of a taxes bill working group, the date and time of these meetings have not been made public, despite Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, telling reporters late Monday night that the sessions “should be public.”

Lawmakers are meeting in private to craft the budget bills they failed to pass in session. No special session has been scheduled yet.

At the Minnesota Capitol, there have not been many signs of progress in state budget negotiations, but there has been plenty of pushback.

Minnesota Gov. Walz and State Capitol leaders want all issues buttoned up before the announcement of a formal special session, with many of the negotiations kept from view of the public and reporters.

Minnesota funds the cost of two counselors who provide mental health counseling to the agriculture community across the entire state, free of charge.

Governor Tim Walz and Minnesota legislative leaders have met for more than 13 hours over several sessions on Sunday and Monday, but still, no substantial progress on the state budget has been reported.