The governor said the timing is right for another borrowing bill, given the state’s surplus and low interest rates, although he conceded that he faced an uphill battle over bonding with Republican leadership in the House of Representatives.

It was four minutes to midnight on the final day of session when the Minnesota Senate passed the omnibus tax bill that wrapped up the Legislature’s work on the state’s $38 billion budget for the 2014-15 biennium. The down-to-the-wire finish followed a contentious final two weeks of negotiations between House, Senate and the governor’s office over the terms of final budget and policy deals.