With still massive budget differences seemingly set in stone, DFL Gov. Mark Dayton and Republican lawmakers plan to meet Friday morning to start chipping.
In a series of closed door Capitol meetings, the political opposites will take up plans for the state's two-year education budget and the state government plan.
The two fiscal areas are key.
The K-12 budget eats up about 40 percent of all state spending. That meeting will happen first. While, unlike the rest of the budget areas, the amount of spending on education is not a major stumbling block between Dayton and Republicans, they have significant differences on education policy and how the money is spent.
Negotiations on the state government measure, which is tiny in comparison, will follow. That budget bill it funds like basic functions of state government, like the departments that write checks and send tax refunds. Should it come to government shutdown in July, having a state government budget passed into law would keep those mechanics ticking, even if other state programs close.
The meetings will start at 8 a.m. and include Dayton, his commissioners and legislative leaders and the Legislature's subject area specialists.
