Minnesota governor Mark Dayton signed the state budget into law Wednesday, ending the state shutdown.
Mr. Dayton’s signature came just hours after Republican lawmakers approved a the deal after meeting in a special session that began Tuesday afternoon and lasted until early Wednesday morning. Both sides reached an agreement that Mr. Dayton proposed to Republican leaders late last week.
The Minnesota governor expressed concerns with the current budget, saying he is “not entirely happy” with it.
“It’s not what I wanted, but it’s the best option that was available and would be for any time,” he said. Mr. Dayton said the budget “gets Minnesota back to work.”
Details were still emerging Wednesday about how quickly state operations would restart. Mr. Dayton said he expected most state employees to be back on the job Thursday.
More than 22,000 state workers have been furloughed since Minnesota political leaders could not reach a deal to close a projected $5 billion budget deficit by the start of the new fiscal year on July 1.
