St. Paul, Minn. – Today the Minnesota House, not having reached a three-fifths supermajority vote as required by the state constitution, failed to pass its bonding bill. Just three days remain to pass bills in the legislative session.
Rep. Jack Considine (DFL – Mankato) released the following statement:
“This bill is an enormous letdown for southern Minnesota and frankly, the entire state. The House Majority knew they would need support of DFLers to pass a bill, and they waited until the eleventh hour to release a half-baked bill. That it failed today should come as a surprise to no one.
“One of my top priorities all session has been full funding of the Minnesota Security Hospital in St. Peter, and it’s so disappointing that this bill came short of that. Inadequate funding puts at risk both the safety of the vulnerable Minnesotans who have been admitted there, and the hard working employees who take care of them. This is on top of the House Majority’s failure – despite a $900 million budget surplus – to address the hospital’s critical staffing shortfall in their supplemental budget, further endangering the good people who work there.
“I’m also disappointed that funding to finish the clinical sciences building at MSU-Mankato was left out. A half-built building doesn’t serve the community, the state, or the students. The time for political game playing has to come to an end; let’s get to work on a bonding bill that truly takes care of Minnesota’s needs.”