Minnesota Passes Largest Bonding Bill in State History
After over a year of work, several rounds of negotiations, and persistence despite ultimatum threats from Republicans tied to the Governor’s peacetime emergency powers, we prevailed in delivering a robust jobs and local projects bill in October. Bonding bills must originate in the House, so this was truly a hard-fought effort led by the House DFL Majority.
Here’s a breakdown of how Minneapolis fared, with funding allocated to make improvements or repairs to the following projects:
- Minneapolis Parks – 26th Ave N Mississippi River trail connection
- South Minneapolis CareerForce Center
- Upper Harbor Terminal outdoor music venue
- Avivo, a mental health and addiction treatment provider
- Minneapolis Central City Storm Tunnel
- The Minneapolis Emergency Training Center
Support for Metro Regional Parks will support:
- the Above the Falls Regional Park - Hall’s Island and Graco Park Implementation –
- Mississippi Gorge Regional Park
- Nokomis – Hiawatha Regional Park
Also included were several projects focused on a more equitable Minnesota, supporting BIPOC led smaller non-profit organizations. These include:
- The American Indian Center
- The Indigenous Peoples Task Force
- The 38th Street Cultural Wellness Center
- The Native American Community Clinic
Additionally, we kept to our responsibility to support and maintain higher education opportunities including:
- U of M-Twin Cities campus child development building and the Chemistry Undergrad Teaching Lab
- Minneapolis College, Management Education Center
One project that will have a significant impact on our South Minneapolis community is the $55 million in funding that we secured to complete the Bus Rapid Transit D Line (Chicago-Fremont) and B Line (Lake/Marshall). The two BRT lines were a top priority for the Minneapolis delegation as an equity issue, building public transportation assets in two corridors with high percentages of communities of color and high percentages of transit users.
Rebuilding Efforts from the Civil Unrest
While the Minneapolis legislative delegation has worked hard with our leadership to secure support for rebuilding efforts, GOP political decisions have continued to stymie progress. There have been some positive steps, however.
Last week, Governor Walz released $12 million from the state Disaster Relief Fund to Hennepin County to support rebuilding efforts.
Working with Hennepin County I was able to get included in the bonding bill a provision that changes state law to allow for demolition/removal of destroyed buildings, even if annual property taxes haven’t been fully paid. This allows the city to issue permits so that properties can be cleared. It will also speed up the rebuilding process for small business owners hit by both the pandemic economic downturn and the civil unrest.
The DuNord Riot Recovery Fund, a nonprofit created by Chris and Shanelle Montana, owners of Du Nord Craft Spirits, has raised over $700,000 specifically to support BIPOC owned businesses in the Lake Street corridor area. They have granted out over $500,000. Looking at community needs, they are working on reestablishing a community food pantry and looking to develop a BIPOC small business incubator. Du Nord is the country’s first Black owned distillery.
The Lake Street Council has established a Healthy Lake Street fund, supporting access to physical, mental, and behavioral health services in the corridor. It does this by providing grants to health-related small business in the corridor. An example is supporting the reopening of Seward Pharmacy, an African immigrant owned independent pharmacy that was looted and heavily damaged in June. United Health Care has provided $5 million for the Healthy Lake Street fund.
The Lake Street Target is moving towards opening later this month. The Aldi on 27th Avenue north of Lake has reopened. The Walgreens at 46th Street and Hiawatha recently reopened.
Special Session Anticipated
I am anticipating Governor Walz calling us back for another special session later this week related to his continuing emergency powers for the Covid-19 pandemic. Given the significant increases in cases in the state, positive tests results, and growing hospital burden, I think it is important we continue to act. While the concerns in Minnesota are real, we are far better off than our surrounding neighbor states that have taken less action to protect community health.
Stay in Touch
Thank you for the honor of continuing to serve as your state representative. Please reach out anytime with questions, ideas, or input at rep.jim.davnie@house.mn. I appreciate hearing from you! Feel free to share this newsletter and the link for neighbors to subscribe to future updates here.
Sincerely,
Jim Davnie
State Representative
|