IT'S OVER: DAYTON SIGNS BILLS, ENDS MINNESOTA'S SHUTDOWN

Insults were hurled. Accusations were made. Pleas were ignored. But in the end, the people’s business was finished.

Gov. Mark Dayton just signed into law all 12 budget bills passed in the middle of the night Wednesday by the Minnesota House and Senate. Dayton’s signatures ended the shutdown of Minnesota government. At 20 days, it was the longest continuous state government closure in Minnesota history.

Wednesday morning Dayton kept his promise that he wouldn’t sign any of the bills until all 12 had passed through both houses of the legislature.

It took less than an hour’s work for Minnesota lawmakers, who reconvened Tuesday afternoon, to pass five bills—and each legislative body ended up passing 12 bills between 3 p.m Tuesday and 3:30 a.m. Wednesday.

During the session, Rep. Joe McDonald (R-Delano) reached out to Patch, saying the session was moving "swiftly" and the bills he saw were "good for Minnsota." 

Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch, whose star rose just nine months ago to one of the prime positions in her party, played a major role in the final negotiations. The Republican from Buffalo, who represents all of Wright County, said Tuesday was a "day of mixed emotions" for everyone involved. 

She closed the evening, around 3:45 a.m., with a speech to her fellow members of the senate. 

"This ends a very long road," she stated. 

During the day, she looked forward to 2012. 

"We have more work to do, and more things we'd like to see done next January. I think we'll take some time off first, though," she said with a laugh. "Maybe a week."  

The Bills
Listed below are the bills and the votes that passed them:   

Minnesota Senate
Bonding bill: 53-11
K-12 Education: 36-28
State Government bill: 40-24
Health and Human Services bill: 37-27
Pensions bill: 61-3
Taxes bill: 37-27
Judiciary/Public Safety bill: 57-7
Environment bill: 43-22
Jobs and Economic Growth bill: 42-23
Transportation bill: 38-27
Higher education bill: 35-30
Legacy bill: 65-0

Minnesota House of Representatives
State Government bill: 81-47
K-12 Education bill: 71-56
Health and Human Services bill: 71-57
Pensions bill: 115-12
Bonding bill: 112-17
Legacy bill: 98-30
Taxes bill: 71-57
Transportation bill: 71-56
Higher education bill: 71-57
Judiciary/Public Safety bill: 77-51
Environment bill: 71-57
Jobs and Economic Growth bill: 76-50

How It Began
The House and Senate took their seats in the Legislature at around 3 p.m. Tuesday, opened the special session, observed a moment of silence for the late Sen. Linda Scheid (DFL-Brooklyn Park) and then recessed for more than three hours.

When they reconvened at around 7 p.m., they got to work. Within an hour, the Senate had passed six bills; the House had passed five. The Legislature then went into recess again; lawmakers were back at their desks later in the evening.

The session, with often acrimonious debate, ended after 3 a.m. Wednesday with all bills passed. 

The bigger budget bills were the session's most complex and contentious pieces of legislation, including health and human services, taxes, K-12 education, bonding, pension and state government.