Lawmakers Avoid Government Shutdown

In a cliffhanger at the Minnesota Capitol, lawmakers passed a state budget just hours before the government’s authority to spend money would have expired.

All the major spending bills were awaiting Gov. Jesse Ventura’s signature by dawn.

Months of political wrangling had pushed the state to the edge of a government shutdown. A judge had ordered that all essential government services remain in operation if the budget writers failed, but noncritical programs across the state would have gone dark.