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State Representative Alice Hausman
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-3824
For more information contact: Charlene Briner 651-296-5809
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Legislature Passes Jobs Bill - Capital Investment Bill headed to Governor Pawlenty
ST. PAUL, MN – Little more than one month into the 2010 Legislative Session, the House and Senate today passed a jobs-focused public works bill that aims to put thousands of Minnesotans back to work. Coming in at just under $1 billion, the Omnibus Capital Investment Bill invests in higher education, transportation, flood control, and conservation and clean water infrastructure projects that will spur job creation and economic development.
Calling the bill’s early passage “unprecedented", State Representative Alice Hausman, chair of the House Capital Investment Committee, said the bill reflects the core priorities legislators have focused on since they started work on it more than a year ago.
“This is the day that thousands of out-of-work Minnesotans have been waiting for,” said Hausman. “The bill we’ve written will help break our downward economic spiral as Minnesotans begin working on all of these projects so important to our state.”
After the bill’s original passage two weeks ago, legislators went back to the table to incorporate some of Governor Pawlenty’s initiatives in the hope of avoiding a veto. The bill passed today includes all of the Governor’s high priority requests, including $47.5 million to expand the sex offender treatment facility at Moose Lake and language that lifts the cap on the sale of land for a new state park at Lake Vermillion. In order to keep the price tag under $1 billion, several projects were reduced or eliminated, including a reduction of $44 million in funding for Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU.)
“It was not easy to cut things out of this bill that we believe are so important,” said Senate Capital Investment Chair Keith Langseth. “But our goal was to send the Governor something he could sign. This bill is too important to too many out-of-work Minnesotans to let it get caught up in partisan politics.”
Citing the sense of urgency to get a bill done early in the session, both Langseth and Hausman stressed the favorable climate for bonding that exists in the current market.
“As I’ve said all along, getting this done early is a good deal for Minnesota taxpayers,” said Sen. Langseth. “By getting projects in the pipeline now, we can take advantage of low interest rates and competitive bids and workers hungry for jobs.”
Added Hausman, “This bill is balanced with projects that benefit our entire state and will create both public and private sector jobs. Minnesotans were counting on us to get to work so they could get to work. Today we can say we’ve done that and as a result, thousands of workers will get back on the job by this spring’s construction season.”
The bill now heads to Governor Pawlenty, who yesterday called it “a bill we can work with.”
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News Items
- Hausman receives 2012 Sierra Club Legislative Leadership Award - (Posted: 2012-10-19 00:00:00)
- NEWS STATEMENT ON HOUSE PASSAGE OF BONDING BILL - (Posted: 2012-05-07 00:00:00)
- House passes bonding bill that makes strategic investments throughout the state - (Posted: 2012-05-07 00:00:00)
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