As the midnight deadline approached, it remained to be seen late Sunday whether Minnesota lawmakers would take a step toward putting abortion rights in the state Constitution and pass a minimum wage deal for ride-hailing drivers that would end Uber and Lyft’s threats to leave the state.

The 2024 legislative session appears to be closing in on a sputtering end, with many major bills failing to reach the finish line, including a roughly $900 million infrastructure bonding bill and a legal sports betting proposal.

End-of-session negotiations have failed to produce a deal on infrastructure, with Republicans refusing to support a borrowing bill unless Democratic-Farmer-Labor lawmakers concede to a list of demands that include dropping an abortion rights amendment and a gun control proposal.

DFLers did meet some of the GOP demands, such as providing funding for rural emergency medical services and sending religious liberty protections to the governor’s desk. But they still moved forward with the abortion rights amendment, killing the possibility of a bonding deal, which can only pass with a supermajority.

Minnesota’s Legislature doesn’t technically have to do anything this year. Lawmakers passed a two-year budget in 2023, so there’s no risk of a government shutdown. But action on items like bonding and abortion rights may have to wait until the Legislature reconvenes in 2025.

Here’s the status of some of the major items remaining before lawmakers as the Legislature approaches adjournment.

ERA amendment

House DFLers on early Sunday morning passed a bill that would plot a path to place for abortion rights in Minnesota’s Constitution by putting the question to voters in 2026. But it does not appear to have a good chance of making it through the Minnesota Senate before midnight.

Sen. Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, told reporters she thinks she has the votes to pass the measure, but there might not be enough time. The DFL has a one-seat majority in the Senate.

The Senate passed a version of the Equal Rights Amendment last year, but it does not include House language that would put the right to an abortion and protections for LGBTQ people in the state Constitution.

Originally the House was slated to vote on the bill last Monday, but DFL representatives tabled the bill for nearly a week as Republicans gave extended floor speeches on other bills. DFLers accuse GOP lawmakers of delay tactics, but Republicans deny that, saying the matter could have come up months ago.

Uber/Lyft

Members of the House debated a bill to set a minimum wage for Uber and Lyft drivers late Sunday. The Senate is also expected to take up the bill.

DFL lawmakers and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz reached a compromise on minimum wages for ride-hailing drivers that could stop Uber and Lyft’s threats to end service in the state on July 1. The House continued work on the proposal Sunday night and the Senate was expected to take it up later on.

The bill came after weeks of uncertainty about whether the Minnesota Legislature would preempt a minimum wage ordinance approved by the Minneapolis City Council that triggered the ride-share companies’ threats to leave in the first place.

Under the agreement, which ride-share companies say they back, the per-mile pay rate for drivers would be $1.28 per mile and 31 cents per minute.

Bonding

Minnesota passes its budgets in odd-numbered years and in even-numbered years it traditionally passes a public infrastructure borrowing bill known as a bonding bill.

But that likely won’t be the case this year, as Republicans are refusing to help pass a bonding bill unless DFLers concede to a list of demands including dropping the ERA. Bonding is one of their points of leverage because a borrowing bill requires a three-fifths majority to pass.

There isn’t a huge difference between the DFL and GOP bonding proposals. DFLers initially pitched an infrastructure package of around $980 million that’s mostly borrowing combined with around $39 million from the general fund. Republicans proposed about $890 million with $30 million in cash.

Sports betting

While backers of legal sports betting continued projecting optimism on Sunday, the already low odds of a bill making it to the governor’s desk this year only continued to drop as adjournment approached.

Neither the House nor the Senate have passed a sports betting bill, and each chamber would likely pass a different version. Some DFLers in the Senate want a version of the bill that includes protections against problem gambling, presenting another hurdle for legalization.

To get a version of the bill without strong limits on sports betting, DFLers would need Republican votes, and some Republicans have said they’re not interested in a sports betting bill without compromises on other issues.

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Numerous members of Minnesota’s coaching staff and front office have positioned themselves to potentially get promotions elsewhere this offseason.

Those are obviously decisions to come in future weeks, but the Timberwolves’ organizational success should shine a brighter light on the others who’ve been integral to Minnesota’s rise, though maybe not always as publicly highlighted.

Micah Nori’s name obviously jumps off the list. The Wolves’ assistant coach specializes in game management, a useful skill set for a potential head coach. Nori has quite literally been center stage in the Western Conference semifinals against Denver, stalking the sidelines as Wolves head coach Chris Finch sits courtside to protect his injured knee.

Nori has been a reported candidate for the Los Angeles Lakers’ open coaching position, could be interviewed for that opening, as well. The Washington Wizards’ position is also open.

But coaching vacancies are strangely scarce. Other coaches on staff, though, could be in line for promotions. Finch has previously said Kevin Hanson should be in line to run a defense of his own. He has played a key role working alongside Wolves defensive coordinator Elston Turner to help run the NBA’s clear-cut No. 1 defensive unit.

Wolves assistant coach Pablo Prigi helps Finch run Minnesota’s offense. Perhaps he could be in play to be a lead assistant elsewhere.

On the front office side, Timberwolves senior vice president of basketball operations Matt Lloyd was recently a finalist to run Charlotte’s basketball operations. He and Sachin Gupta, the executive vice president of basketball operations, have played major roles in establishing one of the NBA’s deepest, most-talented rosters in the NBA in Minnesota.

Then there’s current president of basketball operations Tim Connelly – Minnesota’s basketball boss. Connelly has an opt out in his current contract that he’d likely be wise to take, likely to renegotiate to work his current gig at an even bigger salary figure. But other teams – like Detroit – are already reportedly expected to do their best to pry Connelly away from Minnesota, just as the Wolves did to Denver two offseasons ago.

Minnesota is cap-strapped and could feature little roster movement this summer, but there could be some reshuffling at other levels.

Wacky series

Ahead of Game 7, Denver coach Michael Malone called this Western Conference semifinals “one of the strangest series I’ve ever been a part of” because of the lack of close contests.

Game 1 featured the only truly competitive fourth quarter out of the first six games.

“I’ve noticed in the playoffs over the last four or five years there have been a lot of those larger swings between game to game,” Finch said. “I don’t know what it is. Maybe it’s just some of the volatility of the game, in general, these days. Familiarity plays, certainly, a role. … Sometimes, you just kind of play in a really good vein and get super comfortable. But no, I can’t explain it, either.”

Briefly

Sunday’s Game 7 marked the 20th time Minnesota and Denver squared off over the past two seasons.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Xander Schauffele cashed in at just the right time Sunday by making a 6-foot birdie putt on the final hole to win the PGA Championship for his first major with the lowest score in major championship history.

The Olympic gold medalist got something even more valuable in silver — that enormous Wanamaker Trophy after a wild week at Valhalla.

Schauffele closed with a 6-under 65 to beat Bryson DeChambeau, entertaining to the very end with a 10-foot birdie of his own on the par-5 18th for a 64.

Schauffele became the first player since Phil Mickelson in 2005 at Baltusrol to win the PGA Championship with a birdie on the last hole to win by one. And this took all he had. His drive on the par-5 18th rolled close enough to the bunker that he had to stand in the sand. He hit it beautifully down the left side, some 35 yards short, and pitched to 6 feet.

DeChambeau was on the range, staying loose for a potential playoff, watching Schauffele from a large video board. He walked all the way back to the 18th to join in with so many other players wanting to congratulate the 30-year-old Californian.

Schauffele, who began this championship with a 62 to tie the major championship record, finished at 21-under 263 with that winning birdie. That beats by one shot the major record previously shared by Brooks Koepka in the 2018 PGA Championship at Bellerive and Henrik Stenson in the 2016 British Open at Royal Troon.

CLEVELAND — In a long season where the Twins attempt to keep themselves from getting too high when things are going well or too low when things are going poorly, they’ve certainly experienced both through their first 46 games.

Heck, they experienced both during just the ninth inning on Sunday afternoon in Cleveland.

After Byron Buxton, with some help from the Cleveland defense, used his legs to help tie up the game with two outs in the ninth inning, the Twins quickly saw things unravel in the bottom of the ninth — after they appeared to be out of the inning.

Will Brennan’s three-run home run off Jhoan Duran made walk-off winners of the Cleveland Guardians, who sent the Twins to a 5-2 loss on Sunday at Progressive Field. It’s their sixth straight loss as their longest losing streak of their season stretched on.

“There’s no losses that are going to be easy when you’re not playing at your best, when things aren’t working out,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “I even said it to the team: it can feel like you’re underneath something and nothing that you do is going to get you out of it. There’s a lot that we can do to get out of it, and I want our guys to know that.”

The Twins (24-22), held quiet offensively for most of the day, came close to climbing out of it on Sunday — or at least were in a position where they could have walked away with a win over Cleveland (30-17).

With two outs in the ninth, catcher Ryan Jeffers, the league-leader in hit by pitches, was nicked, keeping their chances alive. Buxton, called upon to pinch run for him, beat out a bang-bang play at second base on Willi Castro’s fielder’s choice, a play that video review confirmed.

Had Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase not then dropped Alex Kirilloff’s easy groundball fed to him by first baseman Josh Naylor, the game would have been over. Instead, Clase couldn’t hang on. Naylor grabbed the ball and Buxton, caught between third and home, took a step back towards third, perhaps what prompted Naylor to throw there.

Buxton broke home, sliding in without a throw.

“My biggest thing there was, like, just battle and compete. It’s just one of those. You don’t want to be the last out at third. You don’t want to be the last out at home,” Buxton said. “So mentality-wise, it was a pickle, but mentality, it was like, ‘He’s got to throw the ball one way, and whatever way he throws it, just take off the other way.’”

But the highs of that play, of tying the game were quickly wiped away. The Twins appeared to have gotten the third out when Christian Vázquez corralled a wild pitch and threw to Carlos Correa at second, but the call was overturned upon review.

Minnesota Twins’ Byron Buxton, left, slides safely home as Cleveland Guardians’ Austin Hedges, right, waits for a throw during the ninth inning of a baseball game in Cleveland, Sunday, May 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Phil Long)

After an intentional walk, Duran threw a first-pitch curveball that Brennan hammered. The closer said he would have preferred to have thrown a fastball.

“It’s not my decision. I thought that he wasn’t good with fastballs,” Duran said. “And I’m an employee here, so whatever I need to throw, I need to throw.”

That home run sent the Twins to a loss on a day where Chris Paddack was nearly untouchable for eight innings, the longest start of his career. Two batters into the game, he was already down after Andrés Giménez hit a two-run blast to center.

But after that, he sent down 12 straight batters. A double in the fifth inning disrupted his streak — so he started another one. He sent down the next 11 batters in order to finish off his outing.

“I wanted to be a stopper today of this bad juju and we’re putting pressure on ourselves again, like we did early on in the season,” Paddack said. “That’s why you play 162, man. It’s a roller coaster of events.”

But though he certainly did his job, he got little run support — the only run the Twins scored before the ninth came on Jose Miranda’s third homer of the season. The Twins were stifled by Guardians starter Tanner Bibee, who dueled Paddack for seven innings.

While they finished with just four hits, they also ran into some bad luck, like when Jeffers hit a ball up the middle that appeared as if it were going to sneak through. Instead, shortstop Bryan Rocchio dove and shoveled a throw to second to get Correa and spark a double play.

And so the Twins left Cleveland empty-handed, in search of answers as they attempt to recapture the success they were having just a week earlier.

“The whole game, just hit after hit, they catch a line drive, or make a good play, a double play. The series was a tough one offensively,” Buxton said. “Pitching staff, they go out there and they keep us in the game and give us every opportunity. We’ve just got to settle back down and get back to being us and doing what we do best.”

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