GOP lawmakers planning daylong budget meetings for Friday and Saturday
A private meeting between Governor Dayton and GOP legislative leaders today resulted in little progress on an overall budget deal. The two sides have eight days to reach a deal or state government will shut down. Republican legislative leaders repeated their call on Dayton to call the Legislature back into a special session so they can work on the budget. GOP Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch says Republicans also plan to hold marathon meetings with Governor Dayton this weekend.
"We can solve this budget," Koch said. "In certain areas, we're incredibly close. In certain areas, we're a littler further away but we need to get down and dig into these bills. That will be the agenda for Friday and Saturday."
Dayton said he doesn't think agreements are close on any of the bills, and he doesn't want to isolate any of the budget bills until there's a global agreement and an overall spending target.
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