Fresh from his first legislative session — one that went into overtime — DFL Gov. Tim Walz shared his thoughts last week about what he learned.

Speaking at the Minnesota chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists' awards ceremony, he lamented the "inability to compromise" in the divided Legislature but added, "We did not go over the edge, which I see in Congress."

Walz promised to make his calendar public "in the very near future — days or weeks, not months." He said he was frustrated by the closed-door negotiations that led to a budget deal and pledged to be more transparent in the future. But a deal still will take "at least a few hours behind closed doors" to work out final details.

He mused about ways to alter the cumbersome process. "I'm looking at how can I change the mechanics behind this to make more openness possible because it doesn't cause this last-minute pinch for compromise," he said.

He compared the budget talks to "being a sophomore in college: We were having philosophical discussions about the role of government at 2 a.m. I said that's all fine and dandy in February, but here we are."

Walz said he hopes to instill a new ethos: "There's not a political price to pay for compromising, there's not a political price to pay for being civil, there's not a political price to pay for maybe crossing over and doing something that you don't normally want to do" — like supporting tax increases.

Judy Keen