On its final weekend to pass bills, the Minnesota Legislature appeared on course for a special session to finish work on the next two-year state budget, as questions remain on whether a bipartisan deal announced last week will hold.

On Friday and Saturday, lawmakers took up several less controversial bills, including a housing bill, the veterans budget, K-12 education policy and spending, and a pension bill.

But after backlash to a proposal to end state-funded health insurance for people without legal immigration status, and resistance to a plan to close the state prison in Stillwater, the health and public safety bills have yet to be passed.

The regular session ends Monday, and lawmakers have to pass a two-year budget by the end of June 30 or the state government shuts down. As of Sunday afternoon, the Legislature was all but guaranteed to enter overtime. Leaders admitted this was likely last week.

In the last decade, there has been a special session every time control of government is split between the parties. Legislative leaders agree it’s likely they’ll have to return to the Capitol in coming weeks to finish the budget. But how long that will take is still hard to say.

Budget deal

Democratic-Farmer Labor Gov. Tim Walz as well as leaders from the Senate DFL majority and the 67-67 tied House, announced the budget deal Thursday.

If it makes it through in its current form, the state would have a two-year budget of more than $66 billion. It aims to control spending growth in social services and education to address a projected $6 billion budget shortfall projected for later this decade. It’s down from the last budget, which topped $70 billion. There are small tweaks to state taxes.

Besides the continuing debate on immigrant health care, a few other budget and policy areas remain in flux. A group of Democratic-Farmer-Labor and Republican legislators is still trying to make changes to new employee benefits the DFL-controlled state government created in 2023.

Sen. Judy Seeberger, DFL-Afton, and Rep. Dave Baker, R-Willmar, on Saturday told reporters they continue to push for more exemptions for small businesses from the paid family and medical leave system set to start in 2026.

Education

Another benefit targeted by Republicans this year appears to remain intact. As part of a deal on education spending, unemployment insurance for hourly school employees like bus drivers and cafeteria staff will remain funded through 2028.

Education budget bills headed to a conference committee to reconcile differences between the House and Senate versions will preserve the benefit, which DFLers granted in 2023. Most of the $100 million in funding comes from a planned Duluth-Twin Cities passenger rail project that never got underway.

An impasse over that benefit initially hampered budget efforts, but as part of a broader budget deal announced Thursday, the issue appeared to have been resolved.

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.

Other bills

The final version of the veterans affairs budget bill passed in the Senate and the House on Saturday and is headed to the desk of Gov. Tim Walz. Overall, the bill provides about $365 million in the next two years and increases spending by about $50 million in large part to help fund state veterans homes.

Money goes towards veteran suicide prevention and a pension credit for National Guard members deployed for state active duty, such as inn natural disasters. It also recognizes Southeast Asian special guerrilla units that fought for the U.S. during the Vietnam War.

On Sunday the House passed an agriculture budget, and a pensions bill that aims to boost funding for retirements for the State Patrol and other public employees.

Related Articles

Letters: More politicians should follow Walz’s lead on money for religious institutions

MN House passes education budget after unemployment debate delays

Unions oppose plan to close the aging Stillwater state prison

Stillwater prison closure, immigrant care debate may imperil MN budget deal

Gov. Walz, legislative leaders reach budget deal

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, his office said Sunday.

Biden was seen by doctors last week after urinary symptoms and a prostate nodule were found. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer on Friday, with the cancer cells having spread to the bone.

“While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management,” his office said. “The President and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians.”

Related Articles

States are telling sheriffs whether they can — or can’t — work with ICE

Moody’s strips U.S. government of top credit rating, citing Washington’s failure to rein in debt

DHS asks for 20,000 National Guard troops for immigration roundups, Pentagon reviewing request

Case of brain-dead pregnant woman kept on life support in Georgia raises tricky questions

House Republicans include a 10-year ban on US states regulating AI in ‘big, beautiful’ bill

Prostate cancers are given a score called a Gleason score that measures, on a scale of 1 to 10, how the cancerous cells look compared with normal cells. Biden’s office said his score was 9, suggesting his cancer is among the most aggressive.

When prostate cancer spreads to other parts of the body, it often spreads to the bones. Metastasized cancer is much harder to treat than localized cancer because it can be hard for drugs to reach all the tumors and completely root out the disease.

However, when prostate cancers need hormones to grow, as in Biden’s case, they can be susceptible to treatment that deprives the tumors of hormones.

The health of Biden, 82, was a dominant concern among voters during his time as president. After a calamitous debate performance in June while seeking reelection, Biden abandoned his bid for a second term. Then-Vice President Kamala Harris became the nominee and lost to Republican Donald Trump, who returned to the White House after a four-year hiatus.

But in recent days, Biden rejected concerns about his age despite reporting in the new book “Original Sin” by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson that aides had shielded the public from the extent of his decline while serving as president.

In February 2023, Biden had a skin lesion removed from his chest that was a basal cell carcinoma, a common form of skin cancer. And in November 2021, he had a polyp removed from his colon that was a benign, but potentially pre-cancerous lesion.

In 2022, Biden made a “cancer moonshot” one of his administration’s priorities with the goal of halving the cancer death rate over the next 25 years. The initiative was a continuation of his work as vice president to address a disease that had killed his older son, Beau, who died from brain cancer in 2015.

His father, when announcing the goal to halve the cancer death rate, said this could be an “American moment to prove to ourselves and, quite frankly, the world that we can do really big things.”

LABOR

Monica Byron

Education Minnesota, a statewide labor union representing educators, announced that Monica Byron has been elected president, succeeding Denise Specht, who did not seek reelection. Byron, currently vice president, ran unopposed. Also elected were Marty Fridgen of South Washington County as vice president and Ryan Fiereck of St. Francis as secretary-treasurer. Byron has taught for 24 years in Richfield Public Schools, most recently working as an elementary math coach. The new leadership team takes office July 1.

ADVERTISING/PUBLIC RELATIONS

Goff Public, a St. Paul-based public relations and lobbying firm, announced that Jake Ricker is joining its team as a vice president of public relations, and that Elizabeth Emerson, a principal of the company, was promoted to senior vice president of public affairs. Ricker most recently served as the senior public relations director at the University of Minnesota; Emerson has led a bipartisan public affairs team of Goff Public at the state Capitol since 2012.

EDUCATION

BestPrep, a Brooklyn Park-based nonprofit business and financial education program for grades 4-12, announced Jason Sanders as chief executive officer. Sanders previously was with the Dodge Nature Center in St. Paul, where he served as executive director. He succeeds Bob Kaitz, who announced his retirement after nearly 50 years with the organization.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

U.S. Bancorp, Minneapolis-based parent company of U.S. Bank, announced that Adam Graves has been promoted to senior executive vice president and head of enterprise strategy and administration, and member of the company’s managing committee. Graves previously was head of strategy and corporate development since 2023. … Baird, an international employee-owned wealth management and private equity firm, announced that it has added Mark L. Brenna as a director and financial adviser to its wealth management office in Minnetonka. Brenna previously was with RBC Capital, where he managed $336 million in assets.

HONORS

The U.S. Small Business Administration announced it has named Paul Kirkman, of Victual in Crosby, Minn., as its Minnesota Encore Entrepreneur of the Year. Victual is specialty goods store featuring house-made ice cream, artisan cheeses, charcuterie, gourmet packaged foods, specialty wines and spirits and gifts. … Minnesota Brownfields, an organization devoted to the cleanup and reuse of contaminated lands, announced the recipients of its 2025 ReScape Awards: Community Impact: Small Project Winner: Bimosedaa, Minneapolis; Community Impact: Large Project Winner: Minneapolis American Indian Center; Economic Award Winner: Hatchery Row, Battle Lake; Environmental Award: Settlers East, Woodbury; Innovation Award Winner: Soul, St. Paul.

LAW

The Minnesota Judicial Branch announced the following members to the new State Board of Civil Legal Aid, which was created to ensure advocacy for persons unable to afford private counsel: Minnesota Supreme Court appointees: Emily Cooper, Katy Drahos, Jeremy Lane, John Murphy and Suumra Shariff, Christopher Wendt; governor’s appointees: Tarryl Clark, John Gordon, Holley Horrell, Anna Pottratz Acosta and Korey Wahwassuck. … Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services, St. Paul, announced the following staff appointments: Elizabeth Due and Azure Schermerhorn-Snyder, staff attorneys; Najat Haji, social worker; Zoe Martens, outreach coordinator; Betsy Froiland, paralegal, and the pending retirement of CEO Jessie Nicholson on July 31. … Gilbert Mediation Center, an Eden Prairie-based legal dispute resolution firm, announced it has added the Hon. Shawn M. Bartsh (Ret.) to its mediation team. Bartsh previously served as a District Court Judge for Ramsey County and is a past president of the Ramsey County Bar Association. … Hinshaw & Culbertson, Minneapolis, announced that Peter J. Kaiser has joined the firm as a partner in the Commercial Transactions Practice Group. Kaiser previously was with Moss & Barnett, where he was a shareholder. … National law firm Spencer Fane announced Troy J. Dobbs has joined the firm’s Minneapolis office as an associate in the Tax, Trusts, & Estates practice group. Dobbs earned his juris doctor from the University of St. Thomas School of Law, where he served as a student practitioner for a local law firm’s Bankruptcy Litigation Clinic; he also worked as a law librarian for the Honorable Walter Kaminsky of the Tenth Judicial District in Minnesota.

Related Articles

UnitedHealth CEO Witty resigns amid setbacks

Business People: HomeServices of America announces leadership change

Business People: Pakou Hang takes program post at Northwest Area Foundation

Warren Buffett shocks shareholders by announcing his intention to retire at the end of the year

St. Paul: Sharrett’s Liquors to briefly close as longtime owners retire

EMAIL ITEMS to businessnews@pioneerpress.com.

By SARAH RAZA and ERIC TUCKER

The FBI has identified a 25-year-old California man as the person they say is responsible for the explosion of a Palm Springs fertility clinic.

Authorities say the suspect, Guy Edward Bartkus of Twentynine Palms, is the same person who was found near a charred-out vehicle by the clinic.

Akil Davis, the head of the FBI’s Los Angeles field office, said during a Sunday news conference that investigators were reviewing writings left behind by Bartkus that could shed light on his state of mind. His writings were “anti pro-life” in nature, according to a social media post Sunday from Bilal Essayli, the U.S. attorney in Los Angeles. The Associated Press reported Saturday night that those writings communicated a belief that the world should not be populated.

“The subject had nihilistic ideations and this was a targeted attack against the IVF facility,” Davis said. “Make no mistake: we are treating this, as I said yesterday, as an intentional act of terrorism.”

The bombing injured four other people in addition to killing Bartkus, though Davis said all embryos at the facility were saved.

“Good guys one, bad guys zero,” he said.

Saturday’s explosion is “probably the largest bombing scene that we’ve had in Southern California,” Davis added. Authorities were executing a search warrant in Twentynine Palms as part of the investigation.

The suspect posted writings online and attempted to record the explosion, though authorities said the video failed to upload. An official who was not authorized to discuss details of the attack spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press.

The blast gutted the single-story American Reproductive Centers clinic in upscale Palm Springs, though a doctor told the Associated Press its staff members were safe.

“Thank God today happened to be a day that we have no patients,” Dr. Maher Abdallah, who leads the clinic, told the AP in a phone interview.