MN House decides on a GOP bonding plan vote
GOP bonding plan vote coming in MN House. Republicans bring their 800-million-dollar state bonding proposal to a vote in the Minnesota House today.
Saint Paul Democrat Alice Hausman says Republicans’ borrowing proposal for state construction projects “cannot pass. This bill will not get 81 votes.” Democrats say the bill is partisan and littered with projects represented by Republicans.
House bonding committee Chairman Paul Torkelson from Hanska responds a number of projects are in parts of the state represented by Democrats. He says there’s significant funding for the state hospital in St. Peter, for the technical college in Mankato, and for a number of projects in Duluth. Torkelson says Senate Democrats’ bill didn’t get enough votes to pass because the dollar amount was so large, and adds Governor Mark Dayton’s bonding bill is “much larger than any bonding bill that’s ever passed in the state of Minnesota.”
Democrats contend a bonding bill well over a billion dollars is justified to address critical needs, create jobs and take advantage of favorable interest rates.