Dealmaking in the dark: Legislators scramble to finish budget behind closed doors
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
Minnesota lawmakers are expected to spend the coming days building out the remainder of a $66 billion two-year state budget. But most of the heavy lifting will be done behind closed doors and out of the public eye.
Why it matters: The Legislature's practice of making 11th-hour political deals in private is raising public transparency concerns among open-government advocates and close observers of the Capitol.
- "[There's] no disclosure of what's being negotiated OR the positions on the matter," the nonpartisan good government group Common Cause Minnesota wrote on X regarding the lack of full public vetting for these sweeping spending and policy measures.
- "The public has ZERO way of knowing who to hold accountable."
Driving the news: With the regular session officially gaveled out as of Monday, legislators convened informal "working groups" to smooth out remaining sticking points.
- Once they work out the details, they hope to have a short special session to pass at a rapid clip what will likely be hundreds of pages of legislation.
State of play: Leaders say they're pushing members to do as much as they can in public. A signed agreement between leaders said the working groups should "function as much like a conference committee as possible, including holding public meetings and meeting in person."
Yes, but: Zero public meetings were listed on the Legislature's joint calendar as of Tuesday morning, as leaders and some committee chairs set up camp in the governor's cabinet room for closed-door talks.
- The one exception by late Tuesday afternoon was the tax working group, which scheduled a public hearing in the Capitol basement with 90 minutes' notice.
The big picture: It's not just the legislative overtime work fueling transparency concerns at the Capitol.
- Official conference committees, which are formed to resolve differences between bills passed by the two chambers, often negotiate in private, meeting only to go over their legislation once a deal is reached.
Case in point: Details of a final $77 million environment and arts funding package were hashed out largely out of the public eye. The only public hearing on the completed measure involved members signing off on the legislation, just hours before it would pass both chambers.
- One committee member, Sen. Eric Pratt (R-Prior Lake), declined to sign the agreement, citing his concerns about "offers [made] in closed rooms" with no "chance to debate the merits of what's in the bill or not in the bill."
What they're saying: Years of "degrading transparency" have made it "impossible" for the public to weigh in or vet consequential measures before they become law, Amy Koch, a lobbyist and former GOP Senate leader, told Axios.
- "2023 was rough," she told Axios. "2024 was the worst I had seen, and this year has reached a new low."
In addition to those concerns, the practice of behind-the-scenes drafting followed by swift passage can lead to laws carrying mistakes and unintended consequences, Koch noted.
The other side: House DFL leader Melissa Hortman, a veteran of budget battles, told reporters that it "just doesn't work" to conduct some sensitive negotiations, including those at the leadership level, in public.
- "You need people to be able to say what's their bottom line, and to make their emotional pitch, and to say where their caucus is, and say where their votes are, and show their cards," she said. "So that is a space that has not ever and probably will not ever be transparent."
Defenders of the Legislature's practices also point out that many provisions that make the final budget bills have gotten a hearing — or even passed at least one chamber — at some point in session.
The intrigue: Closed-door dealmaking also contributed to confusion and conflicts at the Capitol as lawmakers scrambled to get the budget done.
- Top leaders gave conflicting accounts over the last week about what was — and wasn't — actually covered by the broader deal announced Thursday.
- Those tensions boiled over Monday, as Democrats and Republicans spent the final day of session accusing each other of reneging on the original agreement and putting new issues on the table.
What's next: Working groups face a 5pm Wednesday deadline to finalize their draft legislation or escalate unresolved issues to legislative leaders and Gov. Tim Walz for another round of high-level talks.
- Leaders say they hope to have the full budget done in the next week.