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Capitol View®
Tim Pugmire

House DFL unveils bonding, cash plan for projects

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Capitol renovation continues during the start of the 2014 legislative session in St. Paul, Minn. Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2014. Jeffrey Thompson / MPR News

Democrats in the Minnesota House are proposing a two-bill approach to provide about $975 million in public construction projects.

They unveiled an $850 million bonding bill today along with a separate bill to use $125 million in budget surplus money for some of the projects on their list.

The list was whittled down from more than $3 billion in requests and includes projects for higher education, transportation, housing, economic development, water and wastewater systems. One large item is $51.5 million for the Bell Museum and planetarium at the University of Minnesota.

Rep. Alice Housman, DFL St. Paul, chair of the House Capital Investment Committee, said she wanted a bigger bonding bill.

“There’s one word to describe this bill,” Hausman said. “I’ll say more positive things later, but I think the one defining word is inadequate. There are many areas in this bill that don’t reach the level that we need to. But it’s a work in progress.”

The bill to spend surplus cash includes money for the ongoing state Capitol renovation, but only $20 million of a requested $126 million.

Republican votes are needed to pass the bonding bill, which requires a super majority. Democrats could pass the separate appropriations bill with a simple majority.

Rep. Matt Dean, R-Dellwood, said it was premature to make any commitments.

“We would like a bill that half of our caucus could vote for,” Dean said. “It’s something I think that we could work towards. But I think we have not seen the bill before today.”

Dean and other Republicans want to keep the two-year bonding total below $1 billion. Lawmakers passed a $154 million bonding bill last session.

Hausman’s committee will hold hearings on the two bills Wednesday.

Here's the spreadsheet on the bonding portion of the proposal.

And here's the cash portion.