Governor Mark Dayton says about House Republicans’ 825-million-dollar bonding bill for state public works projects, “Where is the other half?” The governor says the bill is “woefully inadequate. Two-point-three billion dollars of real needs, 1.5 billion of which I could include in my budget.”
Republicans respond with the large bonding bill the legislature passed last year, the 825 million dollars they’re proposing brings state bonding to a record level during the current two-year cycle. Nearly half the bonding dollars in the G-O-P proposal would go to preserve existing buildings. There would be 120 million dollars for roads and bridges and 153 million for water and conservation projects.