31 May 2018 Legislative Session: What Happened?

The Legislature convened in February with some optimism. The state had a modest surplus that would allow some budget flexibility and a general agreement on what bills needed to be passed, if not the specific provisions they would contain. However, that optimism was in short supply as the session ended on May 20 with the Legislature, under the threat of vetoes to several bills, passed a very large budget/policy bill, a tax bill that would conform Minnesota’s tax system to the new Federal law, and a bonding bill. Governor Dayton subsequently vetoed both the federal tax conformity and supplemental budget bills, representing the bulk of the Legislature’s work this session. The Governor did sign the bonding bill, which contained top priorities for the region. Following is a summary of what happened at the Legislature in 2018.