House Speaker Kurt Daudt (R-Crown)
Republican House Speaker Kurt Daudt says he’s open to a state bonding bill larger than the $600-million that GOP lawmakers proposed — but it clearly can’t be anywhere near as big as Senate Democrats’ $1.5-billion plan that went down to defeat Thursday. Daudt says, “Even more so than the size, it’s what is the content, and we want to make sure that it’s heavy in those sorts of transportation infrastructure projects.” Democrats have been inching Daudt’s way on borrowing money for transportation projects, but their proposal for a gas tax increase is strongly opposed by Republicans. Also at issue is whether state General Fund money should be used for road and bridge projects. Democrats warn it would steal money from schools and other important areas of the state budget.