ST. PAUL, Minn., July 20 (UPI) -- Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton signed budget bills into law Wednesday, putting the state back in business after a nearly three-week shutdown.
The Republican-led Legislature worked into the wee hours Wednesday morning to pass funding bills that allow the state to resume its business.
During a news conference, Dayton, a Democrat, said both he and the Republican Legislature "bear responsibility for the shutdown."
Dayton, a Democrat who has to work with Republicans who control both houses of the Legislature, said he agreed to the budget because it "is in the best interests of most people in Minnesota," the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.
"I'm not entirely happy with what I'm signing into law," Dayton said after signing the stack of funding bills. "It's not what I wanted, but it's the best option available. … It gets Minnesota back to work."
State workers are to be back on the job Thursday, state officials said.
The Legislature went into special session Tuesday to formally pass an agreement struck by Dayton and Republican leaders to erase a projected $5 billion deficit, largely through one-time borrowing. The marathon session concluded at 3:30 a.m. after votes were taken on nine budget bills and a $500 million bonding bill, the Star Tribune said.
"We were dealt a situation," said House Speaker Kurt Zellers. "I think we dealt with it the best that we could."
The budget agreement -- which stripped GOP-sought policy measures from funding -- was reached during a series of private meetings between Dayton and GOP House and Senate leaders. It adds $1.3 billion in borrowing and cuts $1.9 billion in addition to other changes that eliminate a $5 billion projected deficit.
Dayton said Republicans will "have to be held to account" for choosing "massive borrowing," over "raising taxes on millionaires and multi-millionaires."
On the positive side for Dayton, were the bonding bill, which he said would create about 14,000 jobs, and the removal of language to restrict abortions, ban human cloning and restrict collective bargaining for public employees.
"What's as important as what's in the bills is what is not," he said.
The shutdown was the longest in state history and the longest in the nation in recent memory.
Getting a government that's been closed for 19 days up and running won't be simple, department heads said. Even after legislators pass bills and Dayton signs them, 22,000 laid-off state workers must be called back.
Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Tom Landwehr said Tuesday the parks reservation system will be back online the first day workers return, the Star Tribune reported. Racing Commission members can return to Canterbury Park to oversee horse racing. License and certification-issuing personnel must wade through weeks of backlog. The Minnesota State Lottery can print tickets again.
However, highway construction projects -- some abandoned as they were preparing to begin -- could take weeks to get back on track, officials said.
"Just because a bill is passed, it doesn't mean that agencies are up and running," Minnesota Management and Budget Commissioner Jim Schowalter told the Star Tribune. "We're just going to play this by ear and work as fast as we can."
