when a final agreement was reached with the republican legislative leadership, dayton called a special session of the legislature on july 19. the legislature met on july 20 and passed the budget bills, which were signed the same day by the governor. most state employees returned to work on july 21, facing a backlog of unfinished work and new problems in many agencies. after the budget was passed, dayton said he approached republicans again after meeting with ordinary citizens—who said they wanted government services to resume and did not care how the shutdown was ended—and because he feared a worse budget deal and unease in the dfl legislative minorities. zellers said when the deal was finalized that in his view it was "a deal that we can all be disappointed in, but a deal that is done, a budget that was balanced". his sentiments that a 'balanced' budget needed to be passed, and that both sides had something to be unhappy about, were echoed by koch.