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State Representative Sarah Anderson
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-5511
For more information contact: House GOP Communications 651-296-5520
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Governor Pawlenty Shows Fiscal Responsibility on the Bonding Bill
Last week the governor signed the capital investment bill after using his line-item veto to remove several non-emergency spending projects. The plan, also known as the bonding bill, is supposed to fund state infrastructure projects across the state.
While members discussed the bill, I had been hopeful that the joint House/Senate conference committee would trim the size and scope of this proposal. Unfortunately, that did not happen. At $925 million, the bill was well over our credit limit, meaning Minnesota’s bond rating would have been lowered and we would end up paying higher interest rates on the remaining bonds. The governor prevented that from taking place when he removed the non-emergency projects.
A bonding bill should be about priorities, and the good news to be found in the proposal it is that the University of Minnesota and Minnesota State Colleges and Universities received prioritization. The bill included $35 million to repair and preserve existing University of Minnesota buildings. State schools received $55 million for building repair and preservation efforts. Also included in the bill is the University of Minnesota's Biomedical Science Research Facilities request, which establishes a program to build and fund four biomedical science research facilities at the University.
The bad news is the bill included too many local projects that don’t meet a standard of statewide significance, nearly all of which the governor removed. Instead of funding important infrastructure needs like veterans’ homes, local roads, wastewater treatment plants, and hospitals; these projects would have funded a Rochester volleyball center, a sports center in Blaine and a sheet music museum in Chatfield, just to name a few.
Now that these projects are removed, the rest of the important projects can go forward to benefit our state for decades to come.
Sincerely,
Sarah Anderson
State Representative
Plymouth & Medicine Lake
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