MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) - Minnesota's Democratic governor and Republican legislative leaders said on Thursday they had reached the framework of a budget agreement to end a two-week-old state government shutdown within days.

Democratic Governor Mark Dayton, Republican House Speaker Kurt Zellers and Republican Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch announced the deal that addresses a $5 billion budget deficit in a joint news conference outside the governor's office.

The Minnesota shutdown is the longest in recent U.S. memory and many of the debates over tax increases or spending cuts reflect the core of the ongoing debate in Washington over raising the debt ceiling and budget arguments in other states.

When asked when the shutdown would end, Dayton told reporters, "very soon, within days."

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