ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — With little time to spare before a state government shutdown, Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton and top Republican lawmakers turned Tuesday to one of the most disputed areas of the unfinished state budget — health and welfare programs.

They met privately for about an hour and 15 minutes in the morning and planned to resume the discussion in the afternoon.

Their disagreement over state spending largely boils down to health and social service programs, the fastest-growing part of the budget, where Republicans aim to slice far more deeply into projected spending than Dayton would. The governor has been holding out for new income tax revenue to soften the cuts to vulnerable groups including the disabled and poor.