Governor Tim Walz is urging the legislature to wrap up its essential business, in case the COVID-19 pandemic gets worse in Minnesota. “If they can get their work done as quickly as possible, I do think it makes sense in an economically broader perspective of a jobs program and a stimulus is to get that bonding bill, that local jobs bill, done and move on,” the governor says.
Senate Republican Majority Leader Paul Gazelka said the middle of last week, “I want tax relief as part of the discussion as we move to the end.” But when we asked Gazelka on Friday whether Republicans would be willing to pass a bonding bill early — without tax cuts — he said, “I don’t know yet. We’ll talk as the four leaders and make that decision.”
If Republicans agreed to a bonding bill early on, it probably would be much less than the two billion dollars that Governor Walz proposes.