Gov. Tim Pawlenty and legislative leaders seeking agreement on a budget deal to close a projected $935 million deficit talked for several hours Saturday and made enough progress to agree to meet again late in the evening.
Talks are continuing today.
The Republican Pawlenty and leaders of the DFL majority House and Senate must close the budget gap before a scheduled May 19 deadline, when the Legislature is required to adjourn.
Saturday's talks showed more early progress than similar sessions had yielded in previous years, but Pawlenty and DFL leaders went into the meeting with significant differences of opinion about how to address the deficit. Pawlenty has proposed using portions of a dedicated fund designed to provide health care access to the uninsured. DFL leaders believe the Health Care Access Fund should not be touched.
--MARK BRUNSWICK
