There’s no sign of agreement on a bonding bill for state public works projects, with only a week left in the regular session.
Governor Tim Walz has proposed about two billion dollars and House Democrats have been tossing around a number in the three-billion-dollar range, while Senate Republicans have been talking about less than a billion.
But the real glitch: House Republican leaders said they won’t let a bonding bill move forward unless Governor Walz relinquishes his emergency COVID authority and gives the legislature a greater role in responding to the pandemic.
Redwood Falls Republican Senator Gary Dahms says a lot of the bonding bill will go for infrastructure:
“Roads, bridges, trains, transportation — certainly the government infrastructure: your colleges… things like that. I think that’s where our strength will be.”
Saint Paul Democratic Senator Sandy Pappas:
=”We refuse to allow the silence and lukewarm assurances of some (to) get in the way of action for all.”
