House Speaker Kurt Zellers says lawmakers returning to the Capitol after a ten-day break are ready to shift from a glacial pace to a NASCAR pace. Topping the list of unfinished business is a package of construction projects, tax changes for businesses and property owners, and money for a new Vikings stadium.

Republican lawmakers and DFL Gov. Mark Dayton say government reform is a priority for the legislative session that convenes January 24. Just what they have in mind remains to be seen, though.

Gov. Mark Dayton and legislative leaders have agreed that a special session will be confined to providing disaster aid to flood-damaged areas of Minnesota. They also agreed on a late August timeframe. But the session won't happen until after the federal government reveals how much aid it will provide.

The ambitious goal moves the target adjournment date nearly a month earlier, from April 30 to April 5. Senate Majority Leader Dave Senjem calls the new date a "casual" goal. Both chambers still have several issues left to settle, including the passage of a bonding package. Lawmakers are required to adjourn by May 21.

Disgraced Democratic state Rep. Kerry Gauthier escaped any action for his removal at the Republican-controlled Minnesota House as Friday's special session keyed in specifically on flood relief. GOP House Speaker Kurt Zellers called Gauthier's sexual encounter with a 17-year-old boy at a rest stop "egregious" and still called for the Duluth lawmaker's resignation. Gauthier skipped Friday's session.

GOP leaders sent a request to Gov. Dayton Friday asking for more information on the recent paroles of two convicted murderers. Republican House Speaker Kurt Zellers wants a legislative hearing to review the two paroles of Timothy Eling -convicted of a 1982 cop killing- and John Scruggs- believed to have ordered the execution of a teenage girl.

With the rancorous legislative session in their rearview, the state's political leaders tried to sum up the legislative session as it drew to a close this week.