{"id":146829,"date":"2018-01-16T22:32:59","date_gmt":"2018-01-17T03:32:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=146829"},"modified":"2018-01-16T22:32:59","modified_gmt":"2018-01-17T03:32:59","slug":"minnesota-governor-seeks-to-borrow-1-5b-for-construction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2018\/01\/16\/minnesota-governor-seeks-to-borrow-1-5b-for-construction\/","title":{"rendered":"Minnesota governor seeks to borrow $1.5B for construction"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"FILE:<\/a>
FILE: Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton (Photo: Governor Mark Dayton & Lt. Governor Tina Smith\/Facebook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

PAUL, Minn. \u2014 Gov. Mark Dayton urged skeptical lawmakers Tuesday to borrow $1.5 billion to fund overdue improvements to college campuses, water infrastructure and various other public construction projects, a request nearly twice as large as his administration estimated last month.<\/p>\n

The so-called bonding bill will be a marquee item for the coming legislative session when lawmakers return Feb. 20. And in his last chance to fund a backlog of public works proposals before leaving office early next year.<\/p>\n

Sensing inevitable pushback on the cost from Republicans who control the Legislature, the Democratic governor’s administration stressed the still-low \u2014 though rising \u2014 interest rates available for borrowing and said tackling the wish list could employ nearly 23,000 workers.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow is the time to make substantial investments in our state’s future,\u201d Dayton said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Bonding bills are political footballs at the Legislature, often the product of last-minute haggling with individual projects meant to win over critical votes. And Dayton’s emphasis was on politically popular items such as $167 million for direly needed wastewater infrastructure repairs, $115 million dedicated to address a shortage of affordable housing and $542 million split between the University of Minnesota campuses and the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system.<\/p>\n

Combined, those items compose more than half of the final bill’s $1.5 billion price tag. But Republicans immediately rejected Dayton’s proposal as too rich, especially on the heels of a $1 billion borrowing package passed just last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will be an uphill battle to secure legislative support for a proposal that spends $600 million more than we have planned for in the budget forecast,\u201d said GOP Rep. Dean Urdahl, who chairs the House panel charged with assembling a bonding bill.<\/p>\n

Dayton’s proposal is sure to be retooled when lawmakers return in February, and after economic officials give an updated readout on the state’s financial standing. In December, they projected a $188 million budget deficit that could quickly shrink by the time the legislative session begins.<\/p>\n

Pinch hitting on Tuesday for Dayton, who was sidelined with a cold, Minnesota Management and Budget Commissioner Myron Frans defended the bill’s large size and its mix of projects as integral for the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of these projects … these are timeless issues the governor has been fighting for the last seven years,\u201d Frans said.<\/p>\n

The proposal earmarks $458 million to restore and rehabilitate state-owned facilities across Minnesota, from $3.2 million to patch up crumbling monuments on the state capitol grounds to $40 million for aging Department of Transportation buildings that deploy snow plows and $130 million for upkeep across Minnesota’s 75 state parks.<\/p>\n

Iconic attractions across the state would also get some help. Duluth’s Glensheen Mansion would be in line for $4 million in repairs, while the Stone Arch Bridge in Minneapolis would receive $13 million for design and repairs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PAUL, Minn. \u2014 Gov. Mark Dayton urged skeptical lawmakers Tuesday to borrow $1.5 billion to fund overdue improvements to college …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":138870,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24157,16],"tags":[43589,3753,38857,43588],"class_list":["post-146829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-american-news","category-news","tag-1-5b","tag-construction","tag-gov-mark-dayton","tag-minnesota-governor","mauthors-kyle-potter","mauthors-the-associated-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146829\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/138870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}