Governor Tim Walz says his bonding proposal later this month for state public works projects will be “somewhere around” two billion dollars — significantly less than the three-plus billion that House Democrats could propose — but a lot more than Republicans would like. In Marshall Tuesday, the governor argued the state has the capacity and the surplus to do it: “Why would we wait, just so that you can have an artificial number? Okay, so we go to a smaller number and we have to come back and spend more next year when we do this. That’s not saving money, nor is it getting this thing ready to go.”
House Republican Minority Leader Kurt Daudt said earlier that even *two* billion dollars is too high — but that he does want a “reasonable size” bonding bill. The Minnesota Legislature goes back into session in just over one month.