Lawmakers hear agreement on $373 million bonding proposal

Legislative leaders have agreed to a more than $370 million proposed bonding package that lawmakers are expected to take up for a vote during a special session sometime this month.

Heard Friday during a joint informational meeting of the House Ways and Means Committee and Senate Finance Committee, the $373.4 million capital investment agreement features $140 million in highway bonding and roughly $163 million in general obligation borrowing to fund projects that include University of Minnesota labs, flood mitigation and disaster relief, and completion of State Capitol renovations.

MORE: View the full list of proposed bonding projects

It is a proposal more than three times as large as a bonding bill the Senate passed last month during the final hours of regular session. The House did not take a vote on the bill before adjournment.

Despite its larger size, Rep. Paul Torkelson (R-Hanska), chair of the House Capital Investment Committee, characterized the agreement as “all cake with very little frosting,” that addresses issues like food safety, transportation and disaster relief. Those, he said, are “the kinds of things that need to be done for the state of Minnesota.”  

Bonding bills require a 60 percent supermajority to pass, requiring the support of at least nine House DFLers. House Minority Leader Paul Thissen told reporters during an exchange Thursday that there is support within his caucus for the new bonding proposal.

“I don’t support every single thing in this bill,” Rep. Ann Lenczewski (DFL-Bloomington) said during the hearing, “but I’ll support it.” 

Some key items included in the agreement would appropriate:

• $32.9 million for Capitol restoration efforts;
• roughly $21 million for disaster relief for flood damages related to major storms in 2014; and,
• $32.8 million to the Department of Transportation for local road and bridge projects;
• $31.9 million to Minnesota State Colleges and Universities for facility improvements;
• $23.6 million to the Department of Natural Resources for flood hazard mitigation projects;
• $18 million for a University of Minnesota veterinary isolation facility replacement; and
• $8.5 million for the University of Minnesota's Willmar-based poultry testing lab.