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State Representative Kim Norton
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-9249
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Statement on House passage of a bonding bill
(ST. PAUL) — Today, the Minnesota House of Representatives passed a $566 million bonding bill. The bill contains $8.7 million in funding for the Rochester Community and Technical College Workforce Center, but does not contain any funding for the Mayo Civic Center expansion or a Minneapolis-Rochester Zip Rail Line.
State Representative Kim Norton (DFL – Rochester) voted in favor of the bill and released the following statement:
“We all came here this session with a goal of job creation; this bill creates jobs. It is smaller than I would have liked, but it will create jobs and improve our public infrastructure.
“This bill contains several great projects for Southern Minnesota — the Rochester Community and Technical College Workforce Center, the Hormel Institute, and the Lake Zumbro Reclamation Project among them — but our area’s largest project, the Mayo Civic Center expansion, and others like the Zip Rail Line, are glaringly absent.
“The bill does open a door to Civic Center funding through the $50 million ‘Business Development through Capital Project Grant Program,’ but I worry this is a dicey direction and sets a bad future precedent. This block grant program will give too much false hope and is open to virtually any project statewide to apply for it. I’m hopeful that Governor Dayton will continue to push for the Civic Center and that we will be able to secure some of that grant money.
“Now that the bill has passed the House, we are giving the Senate — and Majority Leader Senjem — and opportunity to clarify the language around this block grant program and obtain more bonding dollars for worthwhile area projects."
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