If it wasn’t for deadlines, some things would never get done at all. It’s true in newspapers, and it’s true in government as well. State leaders agreed early Monday morning on a $52 billion budget plan, hours before the scheduled end of the legislative session.

By having a May 17 deadline for the end of the session, the legislature and Gov. Tim Walz are at least guaranteed of getting a budget passed by June 14 — well past the deadline, but well ahead of the end of the fiscal year on June 30, after which the state government would have to shut down.

The broad agreement settles on how much the state will spend, and how it will be raised. The details of how much exactly will be spent where is being worked out in the weeks leading up to a special session, but the major parts of the agreement are in place. No tax increases will be included — the state will use federal stimulus money to provide tax relief. The state will exempt Payroll Protection Program loans that have been forgiven and extra unemployment compensation from state taxes, giving a break to businesses and workers affected by COVID-19.

On the spending side, the state is pumping more money into schools, especially funding for summer school programs that will be needed to help students that didn’t fare well under the distance learning restrictions brought about by the pandemic.

The next few weeks will help legislators and the governor try to come to agreement on other issues, such as police reform, marijuana legalization and the governor’s emergency powers. If some agreement can be reached on other issues, they will be up for approval in June as well.