ST. PAUL (AP) — The Minnesota Legislature is pressed for time as it tries to set a new budget.

Lawmakers are just starting to take final votes on a series of bills that make up the two-year, $37 billion-plus state budget.

The all-Democratic state government power structure has until Monday to get an on-time budget approved.

A couple of budget bills could head Gov. Mark Dayton’s way by the end of the day today, but the biggest pieces of the budget remain incomplete.

The loose ends include the structure of tax hikes that will bring as much as $2.9 billion in new revenue. Another question is how to distribute $725 million in new dollars for public schools and colleges.

 

Minn. Senate passes stripped-down gun bill

The Minnesota Senate has approved scaled-back revisions to state gun laws that do not include an expansion of background checks for gun purchases.

The Senate approved the bill Wednesday on a 58-9 vote. The bill fills gaps in databases consulted in present gun background checks by including older court records.

Identical language was also added to a public safety finance bill.

The bill is likely to disappoint gun control activists who came into this legislative session hoping for wider restrictions on access to guns. But efforts to implement wider background checks and other new regulations ran into trouble after Democrats from rural districts refused to get on board.

Sponsor Sen. Ron Latz said he removed all controversial provisions from his bill, and it won the backing of gun rights groups. The bill awaits a House vote.