By Kevin Duchschere

With temperatures outside the Capitol still in the 90s by mid-evening, many members in the House, which has a more casual dress code than the buttoned-down Senate, were dressed as though they were headed to a picnic.

A regular pattern developed: reading of the bill, two or three brief speeches, followed by a call of the roll, the vote and then the gavel. And onto the next bill. While no one seemed to be in a hurry, things moved along an at abnormally fast pace. Legislators said they wanted to end the shutdown as soon as possible.

"I think people are ready to re-open the state of Minnesota, and this will do it," said Rep. Greg Davids, R-Preston, who heads the House Taxes Committee.

Rep. Paul Marquart, DFL-Glyndon, said that fewer speeches were being delivered by design, "to get Minnesota back to work as soon as possible." He acknowledged many DFLers weren't happy with the package, but "that's what compromise is. Everyone has to give up some of the campaign promises."

Rep. Michael Paymar, DFL-St. Paul, said he was "disgusted" by the process. Hearings weren't held and the DFL minority had no input, he said. There's no point in speaking, he said, because opponents don't have the votes.

"I feel like the system has been corrupted by the process," he said. "We want the shutdown to be over now and the workers to go back to work. But you could also argue that the results of the shutdown are not what we had hoped for. We're borrowing money and we're not fixing the problem. We're going to be back here in two years and doing it all over again."