Budget approval avoids shutdown

The state was facing a potential government shutdown if state legislators failed to reach an agreement on the 2015-17 operating budget by Tuesday at midnight.

Legislators worked into the early hours of Saturday to reach the final agreements in the budget before the end of their second special 30-day session Saturday, announcing in a 1:28 a.m. press release that a deal had been reached and details would be finalized later in the day. A third special session was called Sunday so legislators would have time to print, study and vote on the budget before the Tuesday midnight deadline.

The Senate pa...