Lawmakers Look To Hammer Out A Compromise

ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) -- State lawmakers will have another long day ahead of them as the 2016 legislative session quickly comes to a close.

Legislators still need to come to an agreement on the transportation bill and figure out how to spend the $900 million surplus before the midnight deadline.

The Senate will reconvene at noon. The House will head back to work at 10 a.m. after adjourning at 2 a.m.

While the majority of lawmakers are debating and voting on their perspective floors, a lot of the work is happening behind the scenes with party leaders trying to hammer out a compromise on some key funding bills.

One of the major holdups is the transportation funding bill but there is talk of potential compromise.

The committee chairs came with new offers Saturday that offer big concessions on both sides. Republicans have agreed to an option for a quarter-cent sales tax for mass transit in the metro.

Democrats nixed a proposed increase in the state's gas tax but want a substantial increase in annual license tab fees, as well as a constitutional amendment that would dedicate auto sales taxes to roads and bridges.

Early Sunday morning the House also passed a controversial bill involving body cameras. It sets standards for law enforcement agencies to decide when to make that video public or keep it classified.

It also sets a time frame on how long to keep the body camera footage. That bill now goes to Gov. Mark Dayton's desk.

Also awaiting Dayton's signature is a bill to do away with Minnesota's presidential caucus system.

The calls for a presidential primary came after Super Tuesday when voters faced long lines, precincts stayed open past 8 p.m. and some voters didn't cast their ballot out of frustration due to the wait.

Dayton said he would sign the bill, which would shift Minnesota to a primary system in 2020.