Layoff notices could go out as soon as this Sunday to state workers.
That's because legislators have yet to pass a new budget, and without one, parts of the government will be forced to shut down by July 1. The tax bill along with other items such as health and education continue to be sticking points in negotiations.
Union contracts call for employees to be notified of any layoffs within 30 days.
"By (Friday) night our first set of layoff notices will need to go out according to contracts," Minnesota Governor Tim Walz says. "That's to our nurses, in our different agencies. That'll be followed by June 9th where the rest of them would have to go out and I just think there's so much uncertainty right now, we don't want to add any more to that."
The governor and legislative leaders continue to say they're close to a $67 billion agreement, but it's not done yet.
When they agree to a deal, a one day special session will be called to pass it. Speaking on Thursday, Walz thought early next week was the goal for getting an agreement.
"A lot of the work that will be done over the next few days is the work of just the professional staff of revising the bills," said the governor. "Those will come back to us. The goal is that, at least at this point in time, hopefulness that those would come back early next week and then the special session. Then we'll cut a special session negotiation and deal."
There are still possible issues for lawmakers to overcome
Two former State Senators, Republican Amy Koch and Democrat Jeff Haydn, joined the WCCO Morning News on Friday and said there are still issues that are hanging up progress - and may not necessarily be easily fixed.
One of those issues continues to be the state provided healthcare for undocumented immigrants. An agreement from legislative leaders would end that coverage for adults, while keeping it for children, and that proposal was not well-received by some on the left.
"It was pretty, pretty clear that the progressive wing of the Democrats, that was their kind of bright red line," said Haydn. "So, How do they fix that? And what I'm hearing is the governor is pretty adamant that that is something that is gonna have to phase out."
Koch adds that while there has been progress on some portions of the budget, including K-12 education which is a large part of the pie, other parts are still unknown.
"Medical, HHS has not been released yet, we've never seen a committee hearing," Koch says about their closed-door negotiations. "That's one thing, these hearings have been nonexistent except for taxes."
Another issue Koch sees? What happens when these bills actually get to the floor for a vote.
"I'm watching to see where the votes land because there's one thing to cut a deal on leadership, right? And leadership to even take bills out of the hands of these chairs and then craft a bill," explains Koch. "It's a whole other thing, you got to get the votes as a leader to pass those bills. It's easy as a governor, the governor's got the easy job. It's just him. He's just got to worry about making a decision on bills. But these caucus leaders have to get those votes."
And those votes come with razor thin margins. There's a 67-67 tie in the House so somewhere, you have to pick up a Republican or Democrat vote to make 68 for passage. In the Senate, the Democrats can't lose one vote with a 34-33 advantage.
"So, I don't think what this deal is wrapped," Koch says. "I will be watching a special session very closely to see to make sure that they've got the votes to pass the floor."
Walz hits the road again
With all of the backroom negotiation still happening, Walz is embarking on a busy weekend of travel and continue his role in national politics. He'll be heading to South Carolina Friday and speak at state Democratic Party conventions in South Carolina and in California Saturday.
That has drawn criticism from both Koch, not surprisingly as a Republican, but also from Haydn who is a Democrat.
"I think the optics on that are bad, I'll just be honest with you," Haydn told the WCCO Morning News with Vineeta Sawkar. "I'm a friend of Governor Walz and a big supporter of his, and I think that he has a great message that he has to give ,that Democrats want to give to the rest of the country. But if your state is in peril and you still got work to do here, I think that's the main obligation."
Koch said it just shouldn't be happening.
"I mean, on the weekend that those layoff notices are gonna go out, right? I wouldn't have recommended it. I wouldn't do it," she says.
Both former lawmakers noted that in 2011 when the state faced a 20-day government shutdown, both felt it was crucial to continue working through the process while state worker's jobs were in jeopardy.