The countdown is on at the Minnesota Capitol, where lawmakers have about three weeks to produce the next two-year state budget.

If they don’t get tens of billions of dollars in spending bills on the way to the governor’s desk by May 19 to be signed into law, they’ll have to return to the Capitol for a special session. Barring that, the state government runs out of funding and shuts down on July 1.

When asked at recent news conferences about the prospects of a budget getting passed on time, Democratic-Farmer-Labor and Republican legislative leaders sounded optimistic.

But a few key sticking points have the potential to derail the final stretch of the session and drag the Legislature into overtime.

Key issues

Republicans have been firm that they won’t approve a new state budget with any new taxes, and they’ve resisted DFL proposals to reduce spending on disability services and nursing homes to help address a $6 billion deficit looming at the end of the 2020s.

Meanwhile, DFLers don’t want to water down the programs and benefits they created while in control of state government in 2023, such as paid family and medical leave, universal free school meals, and free college tuition for families with lower incomes.

As lawmakers plot out state spending for the next few years, a health budget bill has emerged as a key issue in negotiations between the House tied between the GOP and DFL, the DFL-controlled Senate and DFL Gov. Tim Walz.

Education is another potential snag, where the governor is proposing reductions in special education that Republicans oppose.

What to cut?

Minnesota has a projected surplus of $456 million for the next two years, but a deficit of around $6 billion is expected for the 2028-29 fiscal year.

Republicans say the Department of Human Services cuts Walz proposed in his $66 billion two-year budget will disproportionately affect counties that rely on state aid for long-term disability reimbursements.

However, state budget officials have warned that half the budget could be long-term care by the 2030s if reimbursements aren’t curbed.

Walz has proposed cutting around $5.5 billion from the state budget in the next four years, with about $1.4 billion of that from disability waivers. It appears Senate DFLers are on board with the overall cuts, though in the tied House, the cut target was around $3.8 billion.

Instead of disability waivers and other cuts, Republicans say the state should seek to address fraud and cut state-funded health care benefits for people in the country illegally, which the DFL-controlled government approved in 2023.

Higher-than-expected enrollment grew the costs of those new MinnesotaCare benefits three times more than originally expected, potentially costing the state about $600 million by 2029, Republicans said.

“We can’t afford it and we’re looking at cuts to nursing homes and other health and disability services,” House Speaker Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, told reporters Tuesday.

DFLers disputed GOP characterizations of the program and claims of total expenses to the state. At a news conference on the state Capitol steps Thursday, Sen. Alice Mann, DFL-Edina, said the program is designed to help cover the costs that end up being absorbed by health care providers.

“That is not going to fix anything,” she said. “Republicans are telling you that if we take away peoples’ health care, that’s going to fix the problem. Those are absolute lies, and it’s egregious what they said. They are taking our crumbling health care system and they’re blaming it on immigrants.”

Education

Another issue in the budget negotiations is education. Republicans want to cut unemployment benefits for hourly school workers like paraprofessionals and bus drivers, another policy DFLers passed in 2023.

Gov. Tim Walz speaks in the Minnesota House chamber during his State of the State address at the state Capitol in St. Paul on Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

House DFL Leader Melissa Hortman said addressing impasses might take getting other components of the budget put together first in order to create more wiggle room on the more controversial items.

“As we get more of the bills on the table … we can start to solve the problems that are across issue areas,” she said to reporters at a news conference after Walz’s State of the State address on Wednesday night. “So it may be that something in a different arena breaks something loose in health.”

Other pieces of the budget are coming together and seeing passage out of key committees and on the floors of the House and Senate. There’s been some progress so far on the veterans and housing budget bills, for instance, and others continue to move forward.

In his State of the State speech, Walz acknowledged that Minnesota had to make tough choices in order to preserve services and made overtures to Republicans to work toward a budget to keep the state in a good position amid potential uncertainty under President Donald Trump.

“This budget wasn’t written to please everyone. It was written to bring everyone to the table. And when we get there, no doubt we’ll have some disagreements,” Walz said.

Taxes

Walz has proposed changes to the state sales tax that would modestly reduce the overall rate but introduce new taxes on services like legal advice and accounting.

Legislative DFLers also are proposing what they say is a first-of-its-kind tax on social media platforms like Facebook and X that could raise $334 million over the next four years. It is to be based on the collection of user data, which platforms profit from by selling to advertisers.

Both are non-starters for Republicans, who say the state grew spending too much in 2023, when DFL-controlled state government increased the two-year budget by nearly 40% to more than $70 billion, used a considerable amount of a record $18 billion surplus and introduced billions in new taxes and fees.

“We are one of the highest-tax states in the nation, we don’t need to be going back to Minnesota taxpayers to get that money,” said Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks, as GOP leaders took questions from reporters after Walz’s speech.

Federal uncertainty

Amid tariffs on foreign goods, cuts to the federal workforce and potential cuts to Medicaid under the Trump administration and a Republican-controlled Congress, there are concerns about potential economic impacts on Minnesota that may require lawmakers to return to the Capitol later this year.

If a recession results from U.S. trade policy or if the state loses significant federal funds, the Legislature might have to reconvene to address shortfalls. So far, however, those potential challenges have not shaped budget negotiations.

Hortman said lawmakers can’t take any real action until Congress takes final action on Medicaid. Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, echoed that sentiment, telling reporters this week that the state needs to focus on the immediate needs of the state before it can pivot to potential disruptions at the federal level.

“The best thing that we can do right now is to pass a stably balanced budget that people can count on,” she said. “And that’s the work that we have to do between now and the end of the session.”

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Today is Sunday, April 27, the 117th day of 2025. There are 248 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On April 27, 2011, during the four-day 2011 Super Outbreak, 112 tornadoes touched down across the southeastern United States, killing 319 in the deadliest day of tornadoes in the U.S. since 1925.

Also on this date:

In 1521, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan was killed in the Battle of Mactan in the Philippines as he attempted to expand Spanish colonization in the region.

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In 1813, the Battle of York took place in Upper Canada during the War of 1812 as U.S. forces defeated the British garrison in present-day Toronto; U.S. Brigadier General Zebulon Pike and 37 other American soldiers were killed near the end of the battle when retreating British forces exploded the ammunition magazine of Fort York as the Americans approached.

In 1865, the steamer Sultana, carrying freed Union prisoners of war, exploded on the Mississippi River near Memphis, Tennessee; as many as 1,800 were killed in the worst maritime disaster in U.S. history.

In 1994, former President Richard M. Nixon was interred following a funeral service attended by all five of his successors, at the Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda, California.

In 2010, former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega arrived in France after being extradited from the United States; he was later convicted in a French court of laundering drug money and received a seven-year sentence.

In 2012, the space shuttle Enterprise, mounted atop a jumbo jet, sailed over the New York City skyline on its final flight before going on display as part of the USS Intrepid Museum.

In 2015, rioters plunged part of Baltimore into chaos, torching a pharmacy, setting police cars ablaze and throwing bricks at officers hours after thousands attended a funeral service for Freddie Gray, a Black man who died from a severe spinal injury he’d suffered in police custody.

In 2018, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made history by crossing over to South Korea to meet with President Moon Jae-in; it was the first time a member of the Kim dynasty had set foot on southern soil since the end of the Korean War in 1953.

In 2019, a gunman opened fire inside a synagogue near San Diego as worshippers celebrated the last day of Passover, killing a woman and wounding a rabbi and two others. (John Earnest, a white supremacist, was sentenced to both federal and state life prison terms for the shootings.)

Today’s Birthdays:

Singer Kate Pierson (The B-52’s) is 77.
Guitarist Ace Frehley is 74.
Sen. Jim Justice, R-W.V., is 74.
Basketball Hall of Famer George Gervin is 73.
Singer Sheena Easton is 66.
Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., is 56.
Actor Sally Hawkins is 49.
Musician Patrick Stump (Fall Out Boy) is 41.
Actor William Moseley is 38.
Singer Lizzo is 37.
Tennis player Nick Kyrgios is 30.

By VANESSA GERA

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Thousands of young people from around the world had come to Rome expecting to rejoice this weekend in the canonization of the first millennial saint during the Vatican’s Holy Year. They ended up bidding farewell to Pope Francis instead, with their exuberance giving an uplifting tone to Saturday’s otherwise somber funeral.

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“He always said you have to be joyful about life, you have to live life in a similar way,” said Marco Falchi, who traveled from his home near Perugia with his wife and 11-year-old son. He and his wife credit Francis with reviving their spirituality, and they named their son, Francesco, after him.

The family is also devoted to the cause of sainthood for Carlo Acutis, a young Italian who died in 2006 from leukemia and inspired faith in many young Catholics. They planned their trip to Rome around that.

The canonization of Acutis had been scheduled for Sunday during the first-ever Jubilee of Adolescents, dedicated to teens. It was suspended after Francis’ death on Monday.

Falchi was struck by the lack of deep mourning at the funeral for the pope, and he is convinced Francis would have been pleased. “Especially since this was the jubilee for adolescents, he certainly didn’t want a day of mourning but he wanted a day of joy,” he said.

‘I feel like I grew up with Francis’

There was a clear blue sky over St. Peter’s Square. Some people camped out the night before to get a good spot. Many stood respectfully, their hands folded, as they followed the Mass on large screens. Radio broadcasts in multiple languages added to the hum of humanity. They applauded when Francis’ simple wooden coffin was moved outdoors.

Tens of thousands of Catholic faithful had planned their trips before the pope’s death.

“I bought my ticket for Carlo,” said Reyes Arribas, a 23-year-old from Valencia, Spain. “And then suddenly Pope Francis died, so I came to the funeral.”

She confessed that while she admired Francis, she felt a closer affinity to his predecessors, St. John Paul II and Benedict XVI. Her feelings for Acutis, however, are very strong. She excitedly praised him as “the first saint of young people” because he was immersed in the technological world of today.

Even those who were disappointed by the suspended canonization were gratified that they could celebrate Francis, loved by many for his humility and concern for the poor.

“I feel like I grew up with Pope Francis,” said Jessica Naranjo, a 27-year-old from Austin, Texas. “I felt very connected with him in the way he advocated for social justice and the environment. This was a big loss for me.”

“I”m disappointed that I’m here celebrating the pope’s life instead of celebrating with the pope,” she said.

Ana Kalen, a 22-year-old medical student, traveled to Rome for the Acutis canonization with a group from Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina.

“The plans have changed, but we are still so glad to be here for this historical moment,” Kalen said, a Bosnian flag draped over her shoulders. “We are sad about each death. But we do believe that Pope Francis is in a better place.”

Francis resonates with young Catholics

After St. John Paul II died in 2005, the mood was different. The faithful made pilgrimages from his Polish homeland and elsewhere to mourn a towering figure of the 20th century in a spirit of deep sadness and loss.

Francis had a different style. During his 12-year papacy, he urged people to maintain a sense of humor, and that spirit seemed to guide many participants Saturday.

Groups of young people filled St. Peter’s Square before the funeral Mass. One from a parish in Cassano Magnago in the northern Italian province of Varese danced in circle and sang religious songs.

The pope’s death during Easter season filled them with a sense of peace, one teenager said.

“It’s a good sign,” said 16-year-old Matteo Cozzi. “The death of a pope at Easter is a sign of hope.”

The woman born Charlotte Aitchison has been kicking around the music industry since 2008, when she began posting songs online and exploring the London rave scene. It took a while, but she’s finally got to the point where she filled Minneapolis’ Target Center on Saturday night under her stage name Charli XCX.

The 32-year-old landed her first big single in 2012 as a guest on Icona Pop’s “I Love It” (which popped up in her encore) and returned to the charts two years later after she contributed vocals to Iggy Azalea’s “Fancy” (which was nowhere to be found Saturday, much like Iggy Azalea’s career). But Charli never really built a substantial following in the States until recently, with her sixth album “Brat” entering the charts at No. 3 last summer. (The record’s purposefully garish lime green cover quickly went viral online and only got hotter when the Kamala Harris campaign adopted the look.)

It’s tempting to lump her in with other current female pop stars like Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan, but Charli doesn’t have a crossover classic like “Espresso” or “Pink Pony Club” in her repertoire. Instead, she makes polarizing electronic dance songs that are more aggressive and angry than, say, euphoric.

So it was strange to see her largely youthful crowd, with a substantial number of queer people in attendance, dancing and cheering to Charli’s bass-heavy and often discordant songs cursed with vapid lyrics. But the audience turned it into a celebration for the devoted that’s not likely to win over any skeptics.

Charli performed on a massive, stark stage with two large screens and a two-level catwalk that extended into the crowd. There was no live band — she sang to a prerecorded track with plenty of canned vocals on it — or dancers, and the only other person on stage was the occasional camera operator. The set list included nearly all of “Brat” but almost nothing from her early career, not even 2014’s “Boom Clap,” her biggest solo hit. (Then again, many of those in the crowd were still in grade school in 2014.)

Clad in a series of revealing outfits and ever-present wraparound shades, Charli didn’t spend the show dancing as much as she did stomping around, pumping her fist, swearing incessantly and acting more like a hype (wo)man than the main attraction. When she did sing live, it was usually through heavy electronic effects. After a while, watching her onstage felt like scrolling through a particularly tedious Instagram feed full of leering influencers.

Again, the up-for-anything crowd ate up every last minute of what quickly turned into a concert heavy on style and lacking in substance.

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