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State Representative Jerry Newton
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-5369
For more information contact: Matt Swenson 651-297-8406
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PAWLENTY VETOES COON RAPIDS PROJECTS
Last week, the state Legislature passed a jobs-targeted bonding bill (HF2700) with bipartisan support. The bill aimed to put over 20,000 Minnesotans back to work rebuilding the state’s aging infrastructure.
While campaigning in Florida, Governor Tim Pawlenty delivered a line-item veto letter to Minnesota lawmakers this morning, cutting $319 million in critical infrastructure projects from the bill. Those line-item vetoes eliminated nearly $8 million from Coon Rapids area infrastructure projects, including:
• $750,000 to make needed structural repairs to the Coon Rapids Dam
• $5.6 million for construction of the Fine Arts building at Anoka Ramsey Community College
• $1 million for a rail station the Foley Park and Ride
• $400,000 for the Bioscience and Allied Health addition at Anoka Ramsey Community College
“Eliminating critical repair funding for the Coon Rapids Dam may damage recreational pools above and below the dam," said state Rep Jerry Newton (DFL – Coon Rapids). “It could threaten the Mississippi River’s last surviving barrier to protect our northern waters from the destructive invasion of Asian Carp.
“Why the Governor would put volleyball courts and zoos ahead of the state’s most basic infrastructure defies all common sense. His misplaced priorities will again leave a long-term, negative impact on our community.”
Rep. Newton and state Rep. Melissa Hortman (DFL – Brooklyn Park) were also stunned to see the Governor eliminate $6 million from basic infrastructure projects at Anoka Ramsey Community College – projects involving 400 local construction jobs.
“The Governor cut $144 million from state colleges and universities today,” said Rep. Hortman. “At a time when our community and technical colleges are overflowing with unemployed Minnesotans working hard to retrain for the new jobs of tomorrow, we need the additional classroom space and workforce training opportunities these projects would have provided.”
The Governor also cut $43 million from transit capital investments, eliminating funding for a Northstar Station at the Foley Park and Ride in Coon Rapids.
In all, the Governor’s line-item vetoes are expected to eliminate 7,000 to 8,000 sorely-needed jobs, and cost the state tens of millions in federal matching dollars.
“The Legislature continues working together to move Minnesota closer to recovery, but the Governor’s ultra-partisan political ambitions keep pulling us backward,” said Hortman. “Still, we will keep working together to put Minnesotans back to work – one job at a time.”
News Items
- LOCAL LAWMAKERS HELP DELIVER NEEDED RELIEF TO FLOOD, TORNADO VICTIMS - (Posted: 2010-10-19 00:00:00)
- REP. NEWTON STANDS UP FOR SCHOOLS - (Posted: 2010-05-12 00:00:00)
- A SAFE PLACE FOR ALL KIDS TO PLAY - (Posted: 2010-04-21 00:00:00)
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