Minnesota lawmakers likely won't reconvene in a special session to finish passing budget bills until the end of the week at the earliest.

Legislative leaders and Gov. Tim Walz agreed to a broad budget framework last week that balances the next two-year state budget and makes progress in reducing the deficit in the following one.

But the closely divided Legislature, sparring over fiscal details and unrelated policy proposals, failed to pass all of the required budget bills by the end of Monday night, which was supposed to be lawmakers' final day of work this year.

Lawmakers must pass a new two-year budget before the start of the next fiscal year on July 1 or face a government shutdown. If there's still no deal by June 1, layoff notices will be sent out to state employees.

Lawmakers will have to return to the Capitol to finish their work. The earliest a special session could happen is Thursday, DFL House leader Melissa Hortman told reporters late Monday after the House adjourned. But more realistic, she added, is Friday or even next week after Memorial Day weekend.

Hortman said she pushed for work to continue over the holiday weekend but that appears to be "highly unlikely."

In another late-night news conference, GOP House Speaker Lisa Demuth didn't answer a question about whether lawmakers would be working through the weekend, only saying members "are working really hard to get things done as soon as possible."

It appears at least some of the most sensitive work will happen behind closed doors.

An agreement struck Monday night between Walz and legislative leaders calls for legislators to continue negotiating all outstanding budget areas beginning Tuesday.

That includes complicated and expansive budget bills, including commerce, education, energy, environment and natural resources, health, higher education, human services, labor and workforce development and transportation.

These "working groups" will generally consist of members appointed during the regular session and function as much like bipartisan conference committees "as possible," according to the agreement.

The groups have until 5 p.m. Wednesday to complete their negotiations.

Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, said those meetings "should be public" and Demuth said they will be "as public as possible." But Murphy added that she's "sure there will be conversations that happen among members."

As of mid-morning Tuesday, no public meetings were listed on the legislative schedule.

The working groups are encouraged to "present offers at least twice daily" that fall within the broader budget deal announced by Walz, Democratic and Republican leaders last week, according to the agreement.

If work isn't done by tomorrow, legislative leaders will intervene "to get them unstuck," Murphy said.

Janet Moore, Ryan Faircloth and Allison Kite of the Minnesota Star Tribune contributed to this story.