The 2016 legislative session almost made it. Tax and supplemental spending bills (with the exception of a mysterious tobacco tax cut) are widely acceptable to both parties and to Gov. Mark Dayton.

However, the problem-plagued Southwest light-rail project remained unfunded. With a midnight deadline minutes away, a powerful, panicking herd of developers — downtown business interests, construction companies and unions — pushed a funding amendment through the Senate. Too late. Amid confusion, the billion-dollar bonding deal fell apart.

Without a reasonable transit compromise, our opportunity to have a 2016 bonding bill will be lost. This would be a major injury to the entire state. It’s no surprise that a special session is now widely seen as a needed remedy. But to reach a compromise, we need to fix a fatal design flaw with the light-rail route.