Yesterday we noted that Minnesota, Oregon, Massachusetts, and Iowa had come to the last day of the fiscal year without an approved budget. All but Minnesota managed to get the job done. (h/t Stateline.org)

The Star Tribune reports on the Minnesota shutdown. It’s a familiar face-off. Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton wants to raise taxes. Republicans don’t.

Dayton largely won election on a promise to preserve cherished state services by increasing taxes on the richest 2 percent of Minnesotans. But Republicans won control of the Legislature for the first time in decades with a pledge not to raise taxes. The deep rift ignited a political fistfight that spilled past the regular legislative session in late May and dragged the state to the current precipice.

The Boston Globe reports on the Massachusets deal, leading with the collective bargaining news.

House and Senate negotiators reached agreement yesterday on a $30.6 billion state budget that will limit the collective bargaining rights of teachers, police officers, and firefighters in an effort to ease the cost of health insurance for cities and towns.

The Research Council counterpart in the Bay State likes it.

“This is a very constructive compromise which appears to strike a balance between the best of the House and Senate plans,’’ said Michael J. Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, a business-backed budget watchdog group. “Municipalities will save tens of millions of dollars, critical services and jobs will be protected, and municipal employees and retirees will continue to receive generous health benefits.’’

Iowa managed to close the budget gap, but property tax reform may prompt a special session, according to the Des Moines Register.

And the Oregonian reports a remarkably congenial conclusion to a productive, “business-like” session.

As the washboard economy bumps along, expect more down-to-the wire budget debates. The showdown between those who prefer tax hikes and expanded spending to preserve services and government jobs and those who want spending reform and tax relief to spur recovery will intensify.

Notably, while Wisconsin got the ink, Democratic governors in Massachusetts and New York have also stepped in to the politically-charged environment of collective bargaining reform.