Governor Tim Walz will extend emergency powers another 30 days when the Minnesota Legislature meets for a special session starting Monday.
Walz's office announced the special session on Friday saying that the emergency powers are needed to maintain vaccination sites and the eviction moratorium and continue to receive federal hunger-relief funding.
“Minnesota is in a good place in our effort to end this pandemic,” Governor Walz wrote in a press release. “That is why we have begun to wind down our statewide response. We look forward to working with the Legislature to ensure that we can continue to keep Minnesotans safe and healthy, and pass a budget that supports Minnesota’s recovery.”
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Minnesota's two-year budget will take centerstage during the special session. The state needs to pass a new budget in order to avoid a partial government shutdown by July 1.
Walz told WCCO Radio's Mike Max on Friday morning that conversations surrounding the budget have been positive and that he expected those conversations between leaders to continue into the weekend.
However, even with discussions heading in a good direction, Walz showed skepticism about being able to get everything done on Monday.
"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."