Conferees begin their work

At their first gathering April 14, House and Senate conferees compared differences of their respective omnibus capital investment bills.

The bills, HF855, sponsored by Rep. Alice Hausman (DFL-St. Paul), and SF781, sponsored Sen. Keith Langseth (DFL-Glyndon), differ by $129.2 million, with the Senate funding more projects.

Langseth said that in an odd-numbered year, the bonding bill would not normally be this large, but because of current interest rates this would be a good time to bond and build.

Both bills contain money for asset perseveration for several things, including the University of Minnesota and Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system.

Major differences between the bills include:

• $41.4 million in the Senate bill for the Metropolitan Council versus $21 million from the House;

• $26 million in the Senate bill versus the House’s $12.7 million for flood mitigation grants;

• $24 million in the Senate bill for a new Bell Museum at the University of Minnesota versus zero in the House; and

• $20 million in the House bill for an expansion at Moose Lake for its sex offender program versus zero in the Senate.

The next meeting of the conference committee has not been scheduled.

Conferees are: Hausman, Rep. Bev Scalze (DFL-Little Canada), Rep. Jean Wagenius (DFL-Mpls), Rep. Tom Rukavina (DFL-Virginia), Rep. Larry Howes (R-Walker), Langseth, Sen. Dick Day (R-Owatonna), Sen. David Tomassoni (DFL-Chisholm), Sen. Ann Lynch (DFL-Rochester) and Sen. Katie Sieben (DFL-Newport).