Ahead of the governor's fishing opener in Crosslake, Minnesota, Governor Tim Walz says he's confident lawmakers can strike a budget deal ahead of the close of the legislative session.
Walz says both sides will need to be open to compromise, crucial due to a tie in the Minnesota House and a slim, one-vote advantage for the DFL in the Senate.
"I've said there are certain core values that that we're not going to move on," Walz explained. "I am not going to make it a capital crime to get an MNRA vaccine obviously, so there's some things that have been proposed that no, there's no compromise on. But on the rest of it, as long as the core principles of what we've done, I'm open to that."
Walz does say he's ready to get some fishing - and negotiating - done this weekend when he heads to Crosslake the opener. The governor says he'll be with all of the legislative leaders during Saturday's opener.
"All of the legislative leaders will will be up there Saturday morning," he said Thursday morning. "We did this before. The last time we really had, I think, like a serious interaction and there was walleye diplomacy, was back in 2019 down in Albert Lea. Fishing wasn't great, it was snowing. That's gonna be a little different on Saturday, but there was a lot of collaboration."
State lawmakers are working to get a new two-year budget done ahead of the session ending May 19th.
Service dog bill signed into law
A new bill signed into law Thursday by Governor Walz expands support for service dogs in training.
Can Do Canines executive director Jeff Johnson says volunteers have been shut out from participating in dog training due to restrictions placed on them by homeowners associations.
"It is the biggest challenge that we have, is finding volunteers to do that for us because it's not a small ask at all," Johnson explained. "And since I've been at Can Do Canines, I've had multiple people tell me that they would raise dogs for us but for their HOA's prohibiting that. That changes today."
Under the law, service dog trainers working with an accredited organization will be protected and will be given the same housing rights as people with fully-trained service dogs.
Rep. Cedrick Frazier (DFL- New Hope) says his goal as a lawmaker continues to be to make Minnesota a place for everyone to live.
"And this bill does exactly that, it allows for more volunteers to be accessible to train these dogs, and as the governor said and as the senator said, and as Mr. Johnson will say, these dogs aren't just pets," Frazier said. "These animals, these dogs will allow people to live their most independent and fulfilled lives, and that is what, at the foundation level, we want to do here in Minnesota. So I was proud to carry the bill."
Prior to the bill, homeowners associations had the authority to prevent residents from housing service dogs in training.