ST. PAUL, MN (KDAL) - The government shutdown in Minnesota has officially ended as Governor Dayton signed the budget bills that the legislature passed early Wednesday morning. The deal that ends the shutdown was agreed to last week by GOP leaders and the governor. It balances the budget by delaying payments to schools and using future tobacco settlement money. The final measure also keeps local government aids at levels of a year ago. An earlier plan to eliminate state aids to the state's largest cities, including Duluth, was put aside as part of the compromise to end the shutdown. The shutdown began on July 1st and closed state parks, ended many road construction projects and put about 22 thousand state workers on furlough.
