With less than three days left in the state legislative session, the clock is ticking for Minnesota lawmakers to balance the state’s budget. On Thursday, Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton spent an hour behind closed doors with more than 100 state republican lawmakers thrashing out their differing opinions on how to balance the state budget. After the meeting, Dayton shared optimistic sentiments with the media.

“I think there was good listening going on both sides. We had a chance to share different perspectives. I understand that the members of the two Republican caucuses believe very strongly in their perspective and I believe very strongly in mine. So we’re still at that point of differentness. I’m hopeful that we can still find some way to resolve that difference in a way that we can both accept and resolve this for the benefit of all the people of Minnesota,” said Governor Dayton.

The main difference in opinion is that Dayton wants to increase taxes, and Republicans want to balance the budget with existing revenue and no new taxes. The deadline for session adjournment is Monday.