House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jim Knoblach (R-St. Cloud)
A 600-million-dollar bonding bill for state public works projects — less than half of what Governor Mark Dayton wants — that’s the proposal today from Minnesota House Republicans. Saint Cloud Representative Jim Knoblach says “the state does need to live within its means. We need to be careful about how much money we’re borrowing, and so that’s why we’re proposing the number we are.” House Democratic Minority Leader Paul Thissen responds 600 million dollars is nowhere near enough. He says just one example is southwest Minnesota, where on every stop he made last weekend people told him their community needs help to built wastewater treatment plants. Thissen says they won’t be able to do “a dime of that” with Republicans’ bonding bill.” Republican leaders want a “significant” amount of the bonding bill to go for transportation projects, which further complicates the issue politically.