With just hours remaining in the regular 2025 legislative session on Monday, Minnesota lawmakers still hadn’t granted final passage to major pieces of the upcoming two-year state budget, including bills on taxes, education and health care spending.

A special session will be required to enact last week’s $66 billion or so budget framework agreement reached by Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic-Farmer-Labor majority Senate and DFL and Republican leadership the 67-67 tied House.

As of Monday afternoon, only a handful of the 20 or so spending bills that comprise the budget had made it through both the Senate and House and were headed to Walz’s desk to be signed into law.

Around two-thirds of the general fund budget — human health and human services and K-12 education — remain up in the air, and there are still unresolved questions about support for the budget deal.

Walz told reporters Monday afternoon that he wasn’t worried about getting the budget done before the June 30 deadline, and that the biggest pieces often come last. He added he’d call lawmakers back to the Capitol for a special session “when the work’s done” on final bills and that he hopes it will only be for one day.

Gov. Tim Walz.

If the Legislature doesn’t pass a budget by the end of the two-year fiscal period, the state government will shut down. Layoff notices start going out to state workers on June 1. If there is no deal by then. Lawmakers and the governor said they hope to wrap up the budget before the end of May.

What’s the holdup?

Despite leaders calling it a “deal,” it’s only an agreement between top lawmakers and the governor and some of it is still up for intense debate.

Walz, Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, House DFL Leader Melissa Hortman, and Republican House Speaker Lisa Demuth, signed off on the deal, but many DFLers are not on board with an proposal to end state-funded MinnesotaCare insurance coverage for adults in the U.S. illegally.

That was a GOP priority in negotiations, and DFL leaders say they agreed to it because they wanted to avert a government shutdown on July 1 — which would interrupt a significant range of services in the state.

Many DFLers say they won’t support the proposal. And they’ve also accused Republicans of trying to make late changes to the deal, like creating more rollbacks for the state paid family and medical leave program.

“Republicans keep moving the goal posts. None of the GOP demands are necessary to pass the state budget bill,” said House Floor Leader Jaime Long, DFL-Minneapolis.

Demuth blamed the late budget bills on a weekslong House DFL boycott at the beginning of session that delayed business as the tied chamber’s power struggle worked its way through court.

“As I’ve talked about from the very start that I believed that we could have gotten this done on time,” she said. “Our Democrat colleagues didn’t show up for work and we ended up doing that. 23 days in a row.”

Special sessions become the norm for passing a budget under divided government.  The last time a divided government passed a budget without going into overtime was 2007.

What has passed?

As of 7 p.m. Monday, lawmakers had passed a number of smaller pieces of the budget. One big part of the budget deal that got some pushback was the closure of the aging state prison in Stillwater, though the House and Senate approved that change in a judiciary and public safety budget bill over the weekend.

Besides that, bills on agriculture, veterans affairs, housing and Legacy Amendment funds for outdoors, parks and the arts are also on the way to Walz.

Changes to public employee pensions headed to becoming law as part of a bill passed by the Senate Monday will help insulate state State Patrol and other state public safety pensions against inflation with cost of living adjustments.

What remains?

Most of what makes up the budget hasn’t made it to the finish line. A health bill that carries they deal cut MinnesotaCare benefits for adults in the U.S. illegally has not made it to a vote in either chamber.

A tax bill has not yet materialized, though as part of the budget deal the state plans to raise the tax on cannabis products. Republicans got DFLers to agree to cut the maximum rate for a payroll tax for the new paid family and medical leave program from 1.2% to 1.1%.

Walz’s proposed reduction of the overall state sales tax rate and the creation of a new tax on services like accounting and legal advice did not make it to the final deal. Nor did a Senate DFL proposed first-in-the-nation tax on social media platforms.

A pre-K-12 education budget bill that holds state spending level to inflation for the next two-years still hasn’t made it through. A GOP push to eliminate unemployment for hourly school workers is also headed for the dustbin as a result of the budget deal, DFLers said.

The education budget makes up around one-third of the current $71 billion two-year state budget. Under the deal, education spending will remain level for the next two years other than the required inflation-tied increases.

Higher education, transportation and human services also remain unfinished.

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By CLAUDIO ESCALÓN and MARLON GONZÁLEZ

SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras (AP) — The United States on Monday sent 68 immigrants from Honduras and Colombia back to their countries, the first government-funded flight of what the Trump administration is calling voluntary deportations.

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In the northern Honduran city of San Pedro Sula, 38 Hondurans, including 19 children, disembarked from the charter flight carrying $1,000 debit cards from the U.S. government and the offer to one day be allowed to apply for legal entry into the U.S.

U.S. President Donald Trump has promised to increase deportations substantially. Experts believe the self-deportation offer will only appeal to a small portion of migrants already considering return, but unlikely to spur high demand. The offer has been paired with highly-publicized migrant detentions in the U.S. and flying a couple hundred Venezuelan migrants to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador.

Kevin Antonio Posadas, from Tegucigalpa, had lived in Houston for three years, but had already been considering a return to Honduras when the Trump administration announced its offer.

“I wanted to see my family and my mom,” said Posadas, who added that the process was easy.

“You just apply (through the CBP Home app ) and in three days you’ve got it,” he said. The flight left Houston early Monday. “It’s good because you save the cost of the flight if you have the intention of leaving.”

Posadas said he hadn’t feared deportation and liked living in the U.S., but had been thinking for some time about going home. He said eventually he would consider taking up the U.S. government’s offer of allowing those who self-deport to apply to enter the United States legally.

In a statement about the flight Monday, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said, “If you are here illegally, use the CBP Home App to take control of your departure and receive financial support to return home. If you don’t, you will be subjected to fines, arrest, deportation and will never be allowed to return.”

Twenty-six more migrants aboard the flight were headed home to Colombia, according to a U.S. Department of Homeland Security statement.

Honduras Deputy Foreign Minister Antonio García said the Honduran government would also support the returning migrants with $100 cash and another $200 credit at a government-run store that sells basic necessities.

Among the migrants arriving voluntarily Monday were four children who were born in the United States, García said.

García, who met the arriving migrants at the airport, said they told him that being in the U.S. without documents required for legal immigration or residence had been increasingly difficult, that things were growing more hostile and they feared going to work.

Still, the number of Hondurans deported from the U.S. so far this year is below last year’s pace, said Honduras immigration director Wilson Paz.

While about 13,500 Hondurans have been deported from the U.S. this year, the figure stood at more than 15,000 by this time in 2024, Paz said.

He didn’t expect the number to accelerate much, despite the Trump administration’s intentions.

Some would continue applying to self-deport, because they feel like their time in the U.S. is up or because it’s getting harder to work, he said.

“I don’t think it will be thousands of people who apply for the program,” Paz said. “Our responsibility is that they come in an orderly fashion and we support them.”

González reported from Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

By JIM VERTUNO

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas lawmakers on Monday passed a plan sponsored by Uvalde’s former mayor to fix police failures laid bare by the hesitant law enforcement response to the Robb Elementary School shooting in 2022, sending the bill to the governor days ahead of the third anniversary of the massacre.

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Nineteen students and two teachers were killed and 18 people were injured in one of the worst school shootings in U.S. history. Saturday is the anniversary of the attack.

The measure given final approval by the state Senate and sent to Gov. Greg Abbott is dubbed the “The Uvalde Strong Act” and is meant to correct the problems in the slow and often chaotic law enforcement response that day with better training and coordination between agencies and basic equipment requirements.

Nearly 400 local, state and federal officers waited more than an hour to force their way into a classroom where the gunman was before killing him. Terrified students inside the classroom called 911 as parents begged officers — some of whom could hear shots being fired while they stood in a hallway — to go in.

The bill’s author, first-year Republican state Rep. Don McLaughlin, was Uvalde mayor at the time and was critical of the law enforcement response that day.

“The Uvalde Strong Act is aimed at fixing the breakdowns in communication and coordination that were exposed in the Robb Elementary shooting,” McLaughlin said. “This is about keeping our schools safer. … We owe it to the families to take action that really matters.”

The bill requires school districts and law enforcement to meet annually to develop active shooter response plans, and mandates officers be trained on how to respond to an active shooter at primary and secondary schools.

The measure also requires enhanced incident command training and mutual aid agreements among agencies.

School districts would be required to have at least one breaching tool and ballistic shield available at each campus. And the bill requires emergency medical service providers to file reports if they are called to an active shooter scene.

Multiple investigations into the law enforcement response found cascading problems in training, communication, leadership and technology, and questioned whether officers prioritized their own lives over those of children and teachers.

Former Uvalde school district police chief Pete Arredondo and former school police officer Adrian Gonzales have been charged with multiple counts of child endangerment and abandonment. Both have pleaded not guilty and are scheduled for trial in October.

The families of the victims have several lawsuits pending in federal and state courts, including a $500 million lawsuit against Texas state police officials and officers.

By JONEL ALECCIA

Nebraska is the first state to receive a federal waiver to ban the purchase of soda and energy drinks under the benefit program for low-income Americans long known as food stamps.

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The move, announced Monday by U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, would affect about 152,000 people in Nebraska enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, which helps families pay for groceries.

“There’s absolutely zero reason for taxpayers to be subsidizing purchases of soda and energy drinks,” Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen said in a statement. “SNAP is about helping families in need get healthy food into their diets, but there’s nothing nutritious about the junk we’re removing with today’s waiver.”

Six other states — Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Indiana, Iowa and West Virginia — have also submitted requests for waivers banning certain foods and drinks or, in some cases, expanding access to hot foods for participants, according to the USDA.

The push to ban sugary drinks, candy and more from the SNAP program has been key focus of Rollins and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Rollins called Monday’s move “a historic step to Make America Healthy again.”

Details of Nebraska’s waiver, which takes effect Jan. 1, weren’t immediately available. Anti-hunger advocates criticized it, saying it adds costs, boosts administrative burdens and increases stigma for people already facing food insecurity.

The waiver “ignores decades of evidence showing that incentive-based approaches — not punitive restrictions — are the most effective, dignified path to improving nutrition and reducing hunger,” said Gina Plata-Nino, a deputy director at the Food Research & Action Center, a nonprofit advocacy group.

SNAP is a roughly $100 billion program that serves about 42 million Americans and is run by the U.S. Agriculture Department and administered through states.

The program is authorized by the federal Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, which says SNAP benefits can be used “for any food or food product intended for human consumption,” except alcohol, tobacco and hot foods, including those prepared for immediate consumption.

Over the past 20 years, lawmakers in several states have proposed stopping SNAP from paying for everything from bottled water and soda to chips, ice cream and “luxury meats” like steak.

Until now, USDA rejected the waivers, saying there were no clear standards to define certain foods as good or bad. In addition, the agency had said restrictions would be difficult to implement, complicated and costly, and would not necessarily change recipients’ food purchases or reduce health problems such as obesity.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.