Governor Tim Walz this morning (10am) rolls out part two of his state bonding proposal — this section dealing with projects to protect and improve water quality. Instead of unveiling his entire bonding request at one time, as previous governors have, Walz is releasing it in phases — likely to lessen Republican criticism of a total dollar amount he said will be “somewhere around” two billion dollars.
“There’s always gonna be a desire to know what the price is,” Walz says. “The real value is what’s in there. I said this oftentimes when I was working in Congress: Members of Congress seem to know the price of everything and the value of very little.”
Minnesota Senate Republican Majority Leader Paul Gazelka says he’s more comfortable with a bonding bill under a billion dollars than the two billion that the governor will likely propose. Gazelka says budget surpluses come and go, but debt obligations for the state remain the same. “Like a household budget, we don’t just borrow money because we can or because we can get a good deal,” he says.