State Senate Republicans’ bonding proposal unveiled Wednesday includes 80 million dollars for mental health crisis centers and housing in Minnesota. Rochester Senator Dave Senjem says it’s motivated by needs all over the state because there aren’t enough hospital beds. “Three o’clock in the morning, you’ve got a crisis, where do you go?” Senjem asks. “We’re gonna have 24/7, if you will, crisis centers around the state of Minnesota to deal with these individual circumstances.”
The project is one of many in a bonding proposal that totals over 800 million dollars. Governor Mark Dayton has requested a dollar amount nearly double that. The two sides must hammer out a compromise by the end-of-session deadline May 20th.