Created: May 18, 2021 03:38 PM The first tangible result of the budget deal announce by Gov. Tim Walz and legislative leaders on Monday is $75 million in funding for "summer learning" programs across Minnesota to help students who fell behind during the pandemic. "This was going to be the recovery from COVID budget," the governor said during a visit to Otter Lake Elementary School in White Bear Lake. "It needed to focus on kids, schools, it needed to focus on families and it needed to focus on small businesses." Minnesota Education Commissioner Heather Mueller says the money will be used from everything from kindergarten readiness programs and field trips to mental health services for students who struggled during the pandemic.