UPDATED Minnesota Government Shutdown Day 18: 'We Are Ready to Go'

Last Update: Monday, July 18 at 10 p.m.: A special session is imminent, according to Assistant Senate Majority Leader Geoff Michel.

“I think we are ready to go. It’s time to get Minnesotans back to work,” Michel, a Republican who represents Edina and West Bloomington, told WCCO radio on Monday afternoon.

“It is up to the governor to decide that, though,” he said.

Michel also pointed to the release of preliminary versions of the Public Safety/Judiciary and Transportation bills as evidence of Monday's progress.

“I think there is more progress to talk about today,” Michel said. “(The two bills) are part of the framework that we talked about with the governor.”

Negotiators appropriated $4.7 billion for the Transportation bill and $1.9 billion for Public Safety/Judiciary for the next biennium.  

MPR News reported on Sunday evening that a handshake deal was reached on an $11 billion Health and Human Services bill, but that budget hasn’t been confirmed by representatives of either party.

First Post: As previously reported by Richfield Patch, lovebirds had to scramble to find a new venue for their July 16 wedding after Fort Snelling was closed as a result of the shutdown.

Patch briefly spoke with Gonzales Friday who said while things were going as best as they could, with the news of the deal between the governor at GOP leaders, she was "extremely angry."

"[Legislators] shut it down just long enough to keep us out of our venue and didn't accomplish anything," Gonzales wrote in an e-mail.

Gonzales said her and, her now husband, were heading to Wisconsin Dells for a couple days this week. Richfield Patch will catch up with them when they return to get more details on how the Saturday wedding went off.

Further, while Gov. Mark Dayton and GOP leaders stating that budget negotiations were making "considerable progress," a special session has not yet been called—causing the shutdown to drag into another week.

According to a Duluth News Tribune article, calling a special session today is out of the question given all the "loose ends" that need to be tied up. The legislators' joint statement said it would not call the special session until all the bills had been hammered out and agreed upon.

So now, the state waits for more word.

The following is a list of links to other Day 18 shutdown stories from around the state and country:

Minnesota Public Radio: No special session today: Lobbyists descend on Capitol
The Minnesota Independent: Abortion politics threaten to again derail budget agreement
MinnPost: Bogged down in budget details, two sides repeat a familiar refrain: 'We're close'
Pioneer Press: Dayton, Republicans working on agreement, but not ready to meet yet
Politico: Minnesota shutdown drags on
Reuters: Minnesota leaders report progress toward ending shutdown
Read this: Star Tribune: Chance for quick budget deal fades
Star Tribune: St. Anthony: Shutdown 'solution' comes with funny money
Star Tribune: Their paychecks stopped, but their work went on