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On Friday, there was a feeling of dj vu around the Minnesota Capitol.

After repeated delays in negotiations, the GOP leaders of the state Legislature decided to move ahead with a two-year, $46 billion state budget plan without final sign-off from DFL Gov. Mark Dayton. The Republicans said it was necessary in order to move the budget bills through the cumbersome legislative process before a constitutional deadline to adjourn session at midnight on Monday.

Its the second batch of budget bills Republicans have sent to Dayton this month without an agreement; the first round saw all the budget bills vetoed by the governor. Its also a repeat of 2015, when legislative leaders sent the governor budget bills without a final agreement. Its exactly where we were two years ago, Republican House Speaker Kurt Daudt said. We have decided to set joint budget targets that we think represent real compromise with the governor. We have moved our positions pretty significantly.

The move assures a messy finish to the 2017 legislative session, with a hurried weekend of budget work ahead and potential vetoes forthcoming from the governor. During an appearance on Twin Cities PBS Almanac show on Friday night, Dayton did not promise to veto all of the budget bills sent his way, but he said he was disappointed Republicans went ahead without him on the budget after he left meetings this afternoon to attend a funeral.

This is divided government, and they are already saying, We are going to have the budget the way we want it, Dayton said.

GOP leaders have released new budget targets that include a $660 million tax cut proposal, which is lower than the more than $1 billion tax cut they originally wanted but more than what Dayton had proposed. They also want to spend about $467 million more on education over the next two years; $200 million on higher education; and $164 million for courts and public safety. The targets also include more than $250 million in reductions to health and human services spending.

Progress was slow on a budget deal between the two sides all week. On Wednesday, Dayton offered a halfway proposal to split the surplus. But the two sides disagreed about what actually constituted the halfway point of the surplus, throwing a wrench into the negotiations. Even after a secret meeting at the governors residence Thursday evening and hushed meetings throughout the day Friday, Republican leaders and the governor still werent able to reach a global agreement.

So Republicans decided to move forward without Dayton. The Legislature has a job to do and it takes a few days, Daudt said. Weve reached that point where we have to start that process.

In 2015, the last time legislators sent Dayton a plan without his sign-off, the governor ultimately vetoed three of the budget bills, leading to a one-day special session that was nearly derailed over disagreements about spending on the environment. Republicans said they dont want that to happen this year, and plan to meet with Dayton over the weekend with the goal of drafting agreements he can sign. They have left $86 million unspent in their targets to accommodate ongoing negotiations.

This does not mean we are walking away from the table with the governor, Daudt said. In fact, its the opposite. We hope to engage with the governor over the course of the next three days and get agreement on all of these bills.

But Dayton was still concerned, not just about the numbers but about hundreds of policy measures that were tucked into the last round of budget bills Republicans sent him.

I'm not going to swallow it, Dayton said of those proposals, which include measures to block local governments from setting their own wage and labor laws; a delay on implementing waterway-buffer rules, one of Daytons signature initiatives; and changes to the makeup of the Metropolitan Council, the metro-area regional planning agency.

The way we resolved the shutdown in 2011: we took all of the policy out of the budget bills, Dayton said Friday.

Republicans said they will reduce the number of policy measures in the bill, but added that there is always some policy in budget bills. Every bill always has policy, said Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka. As far as the ones that are more volatile we will communicate with him.

If legislators dont finish their work by midnight on Monday, Dayton can immediately call them back to a special session, or they can negotiate terms over the following days and weeks. But an agreement must be struck by June 30, the final day of the fiscal year, or state government heads into automatic shutdown.

Dayton has said an important part of his legacy is in adopting a fiscally responsible two-year budget, one that doesnt leave ballooning expenses in future budgeting years. During his first session in office, in 2011, lawmakers faced a $6 billion budget deficit.

If we have any kind of economic downturn we are right in the same boat, he said, and avoiding a similar situation is a very important part of what I want to leave for my successor.

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With no deal in sight, legislative Republicans decide to move budget bills without Dayton's sign-off - MinnPost