No deal but more talks
Governor Pawlenty and legislative leaders broke off budget talks at about 11 pm. They plan on meeting again at 1 pm on Sunday.
They met behind closed doors for a total of five hours on Saturday. They didn't reach an agreement but said they're closer to resolving their differences on erasing the state's $935 million projected budget deficit. One sticking point is whether to use money from a health care fund to balance the budget. The governor said he wants to use $125 million from the fund, something DFL legislative leaders object to.
"The Senate DFL has indicated that they don't want to use it for certain things, we want to use it for certain things so that's an obstacle. As we tie that into the discussion of health care reform overall there may be some opportunities there but we'll have to wait and see."
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Other roadblocks include disagreement over which state programs should be cut from the budget and the best way to keep property taxes in check. Pawlenty said there's been a willingness to get to an agreement but there is still some work to do.
DFL House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher said she's optimistic a deal can be reached especially since everyone is in the same room talking.
"Our commitment is for a balanced budget to be signed by the governor and it seems like a good sign that we're still a couple of weekends out here from what is supposed to be the final adjournment day of this legislative session so I think we feel that that's a positive sign."
Lawmakers have about two weeks until they reach the constitutional deadline for adjournment.