Less than a month remains until the date when the Minnesota legislature is supposed to adjourn, and with only a handful of bills passed so far, it had better be an action-packed month if legislators want to avoid a special session.

And with a budget deficit to worry about, getting the state’s business finished up by the May 19 deadline should be a priority for our lawmakers. Smaller, cheaper government is all the rage these days, after all, and the legislature should certainly apply the same expectation to themselves and finish their business at a minimum of expense.

It won’t be easy. Just because Republicans have a huge House majority and control the governor’s office doesn’t mean compromise with Senate Democrats will be any easier to achieve. And within the Republican party, rural and suburban interests will have to find common ground on a way to fairly distribute the pain of budget cuts to local governments and taxpayers.

But Minnesotans are in no mood for the prolonged session that almost brought on a state shutdown two years ago. The legislature has dragged its feet on the most important issue, the budget, for most of the session, and there’s no reason to procrastinate further. Less than a month to go. Time to get down to business.