Minnesota Goes Back to Work as Shutdown Fallout Is Gauged

Minnesota’s rest stops and parks must be cleaned after being closed almost three weeks during state government’s shutdown. Equipment must be returned to construction sites. There may be a backlog of hunting-license applications. And winners and losers have to be sorted out.

The Republican-controlled Legislature passed the last of the state’s outstanding budget bills about 3:30 a.m. local time largely on party-line votes, allowing Democratic Governor Mark Dayton to end the 20-day impasse with legislative Republicans. Dayton, who called a session yesterday after settling the details of a broad agreement reached last week, signed the bills shortly after 9 a.m. at the Capitol in St. Paul.