Minnesota Lawyer
Rep. Alice Hausman, DFL-St. Paul (staff photo: peter bartz-gallagher)
House Capital Investment Chairwoman Alice Hausman is calling for an $800 million bonding bill this session that would take a big bite out of the Capitol restoration project and invest heavily in civic centers and construction projects on college campuses across the state.
The largest share of Hausman’s bill goes to infrastructure on the University of Minnesota and Minnesota State Colleges and Universities campuses, which would get more than than $210 million in bonding dollars under her bill. The Capitol restoration project would get $109 million in Hausman’s bill, or more than half of the money needed to complete repairs on the more than 100-year-old building.
Hausman’s bill comes on the heels of Gov. Mark Dayton’s bonding proposal, which comes in slightly lower at $750 million. While both bills invest heavily in the Capitol restoration project and civic centers in Rochester, St. Cloud and Mankato, there are also significant differences in the two proposals.
Dayton proposed major investments in corrections facilities and in the next phase of construction on the Minneapolis Veterans Home, which the governor targeted for $50 million and $54 million in spending, respectively. Neither appear in Hausman’s bill, though. Hasuman did include $5 million in asset preservation for veterans and $3 million in asset preservation for the Department of Corrections. Both bills, however, would pump between $36 and $46 million into improvements at the Minnesota Security Hospital in St. Peter.
The lack of funding for veterans drew sharp comments from GOP Rep. Bob Dettmer in the Capital Investment Committee on Tuesday, as Hausman went through the details of her bill for the first time. Dettmer said there’s a perception that the Legislature has misplaced priorities. “We’re putting money into museums, state trails, sculpture gardens, nature center and so forth,” Dettmer said, without spending on the “men and women who serve.”
Hausman said the veterans funding has the potential to be the most “controversial” and “politicized” part of her bill, but she’d prefer to talk more with members of Congress over the next year about the complicated and potentially problematic federal formula for veterans housing. “I’d like to make next year the ‘Year of the Veterans,'” Hausman said, suggesting she’d be willing to spend $100 million on veterans in next year’s bonding bill.
Republican Rep. Greg Davids said, unlike the governor’s bill, Hausman’s proposal is geographically balanced. “Chair Hausman knows how to write a bonding bill that could pass,” he said. But he noted that odd-numbered years aren’t typical bonding years, and he and other Republicans want to pass a budget bill first.
The bill also repeals a nearly $50 million pot of bonding dollars designated by the Department of Employment and Economic Development. Republicans created the fund during bonding negotiations last year, but Hausman said it was too controversial to keep in her bill. “We should have the courage to sit here and debate priorities,” she said.
In addition to the $800 million in general obligation bonding, Hausman’s bill also includes $58 million in other spending, including new funding for the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency.
