Negotiations Continue, Special Session Coming Soon?

May 29, 2025

As the Legislature works to complete its work on the state’s two-year budget, another deadline is looming. Legislators are required to pass a balanced budget before the end of the fiscal year—June 30, 2025. If they don’t meet that deadline, the state will begin a partial shutdown. 

Because state law requires the issuing of layoff notices to state employees 30 days prior, the next big deadline is this Sunday, June 1. Legislative leaders are working to complete the negotiations before that date, so notices will not have to be sent. That deadline will be difficult to meet, though. 

Legislative leaders had given a deadline of June 28 at 7 p.m. to complete all negotiations. Many budget workgroups have completed their work and are now holding hearings to announce the package. As of June 28, the Health and Human Services (HHS) chairs were close to finalizing, but several details still need to be completed. 

The MMA priority to raise Medical Assistance (MA) reimbursement rates to at least the Medicare level was one of those details. Republicans and Democrats have agreed to use a new assessment on managed care organizations that was developed by the MMA to increase federal funds to pay for increasing MA payments. They were still negotiating whether that would be for all outpatient services, or would be limited only for mental health services. The MMA remains hopeful that we will be able to raise all MA outpatient reimbursement rates. 

It is also unclear whether the MMA priority to limit mid-year formulary changes for patients currently on medications will be included. The chief author of that bill, Sen. Alice Mann, MD, (DFL-Bloomington) is a member of the HHS working group that is negotiating, so the MMA is hopeful it will be part of the final bill.