Almanac: At the Capitol

Leaders and the governor have been back behind closed doors trying to finalize a deal on education, healthcare and property taxes. Hmmm, those are three issues Democrats ran on, won the House with and declared "we'll be focused on these like a laser beam." It would be a big win for the House and Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher if they can deliver on that. If Pawlenty is able to cut a deal he can look like a winner too, proving he can close a deal. Everyone says Sen. Roger Moe was the ultimate deal-closer because everyone walked away feeling like they won. I ran into Moe today at the Capitol and asked him about negotiations and he said "they'll do it." We'll see if this group of people can do it. They haven't yet.

The House and Senate are done on the floor for the night. That's not a good sign for a global deal. They'll be back in at 10am Saturday.

The Speaker of the House says they're "nearly done" and very close to an end of session deal. She expects to finish up Saturday and have no Sunday session. Minority Leader Marty Seifert agreed they are "much closer" and could wrap it up tonight. More from all four legislative leaders live on Almanac tonight. And we uncovered a story about Gov. Pawlenty's vetoes and some new threats. That along with one-on-one with former Gov. Jesse Ventura. Should be a fun show!