 Governor Tim Walz in Minnesota's top two legislative leaders have agreed on deadlines. They say we'll avert a high-stakes poker game at the end of the session and avoid a government shutdown in Minnesota. Walz, Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and Republican Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka announced a series of deadlines for committee and floor actions Monday that they say will bring the session to an orderly conclusion by the May 20th deadline. So the agreement that we are announcing today puts us on a pathway to have more of the budget conversations in public and puts us on a pathway to end the session on time with more legislators involved in the bill drafting process. As you know, Minnesota seems to like divided government and we have divided government again but that doesn't mean that we have to be divided on everything and this is one of the important things that we can do and that is try to move the process up a little bit earlier so not just all legislators can engage more but also the governor and the speaker and myself can engage more as we move to the end of the process. When the parameters are laid out as they are here it will enhance the debates. There will be I'm sure some debates over a budget when we unveil it that's the way it's supposed to be and if that's done in a healthy manner if it is done with some clear-cut expectations and with it being done that all of those members of the House and the Senate have the ability to engage and they are working closely with the administrative branch to get that done that's good for Minnesotans. If the agreement sticks it would be a contrast with the chaotic 2018 session when many major proposals were folded at the end into one enormous bill that then Governor Mark Dayton vetoed. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland news please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.