Minnesota's top lawmakers met Thursday as the divided Legislature continued to work towards budget bills that were not resolved before the regular session ended last month.
Governor Tim Walz on Friday morning told WCCO Radio's Mike Max that the discussions were productive and that he's optimistic heading into the weekend.
"There is a lot of agreement, a lot more than people would know," said Walz.
State law requires Gov. Walz to call a special session on Monday to renew emergency powers related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The legislature also must pass a new, two-year $52 billion budget in order to avoid a partial government shutdown starting July 1.
"We worked through about five areas on Thursday and I think it was incredibly productive," Walz said. "It's respectful and there's some humor involved. We'll get there."
When it comes to how long the special session might go, Walz hinted that getting everything done on Monday will be extremely difficult.
"We just run out of time. We have to print these things, read them all, and make sure there are no errors," he said. "It's unfortunate that we push it up against the deadline, but I think that's a result of our political climate. It's hard for people to get past where they're really rigid against the other side to start moving in and saying, 'Okay, you got a good point let's go with that."
One area of optimism for Walz headed into weekend discussions is an extra $1.8 billion in surplus that was announced on Thursday. That money, in addition with February's announced surplus, make up a total of $3.3 billion in general revenue funds since May.
"It's a good dilemma," Walz said. "It proves that we created a good budget in 2019 and we had rainy day funds to weather the pandemic. We should get a budget with tax cuts for most Minnesotans while investing in things like roads and schools."