Despite a nearly $2 billion surplus, bipartisan support for key initiatives and high hopes for a renewed focus on the needs of rural communities, the regular session of the 2015 Legislature can hardly be called the "Greater Minnesota session."

With legislators unable to pass a tax bill or comprehensive transportation package and the governor's decision to veto the omnibus agriculture and environment and jobs bills, the 2015 session seems poised to go down as a monumental flop for Greater Minnesota.

However, that doesn't have to be the case. Gov. Mark Dayton and lawmakers still have a chance to salvage an otherwise dreary session by earnestly addressing the needs of Greater Minnesota during the upcoming special session.

In January, the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities and its economic-development-focused sister organization, the Greater Minnesota Partnership, laid out a list of top legislative priorities, including an increase in local government aid (LGA); funding for broadband and city streets; initiatives to spur development of housing for middle-income workers; the creation of an innovative job training program, and important measures for environmental regulatory reform.

All of these issues were addressed in legislation that received strong bipartisan support but ultimately fell victim to either the governor's veto or legislators' failure to compromise.

At this point, the only positive from the session for Greater Minnesota is funding for nursing homes which, although certainly important, does little to bring long-term economic growth to our communities.

Luckily, the special session presents lawmakers with a "do-over." Not only should they adopt the aforementioned Greater Minnesota priorities that were included in the vetoed bills, but they should use this opportunity to strengthen them. For example, the vetoed jobs bill included only $10.8 million for broadband funding, far less than the $100 million recommended by Governor's Broadband Task Force and only a small sliver of what is needed to address the estimated $3 billion needed to bring high-quality Internet service to all parts of Minnesota.

Furthermore, since the regular session ended with legislators unable to come to terms on a tax bill, legislative leaders should use this extra time to work out a deal that will address the needs of communities and businesses across the state while giving each body — House, Senate and governor — a bit more of what they want. A reasonable compromise would include the LGA increase and workforce housing tax credits contained in the version of the tax bill passed by the DFL-led Senate, some of the tax cuts for farmers and small businesses desired by the House Republicans, and additional education funding that Dayton has made his main priority in the special session.

While it is clear that three people are calling most of the shots — Dayton, Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk and House Speaker Kurt Daudt — we should not let the rest of our lawmakers off the hook. I urge our rural legislators to take an active role in the special session and demand that Greater Minnesota priorities be a part of the agenda.

Heidi Omerza is president of the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities and a member of the Ely City Council.