By Jessie van Berkel and Briana Bierschback, includes “It was always going to be a heavy lift: Set the next state budget with a politically divided government and vastly opposing views on taxes and government spending. Throw in a global pandemic, lingering uncertainty around public health and federal aid and passionate disagreements over police reform. Oh, and conduct some of those tense negotiations over Zoom. … The money Minnesota is anticipating from the federal government is a "huge wild card" in the next budget, Kent said.”