House Republicans on Monday released their plan to borrow $600 million for public works projects around the state, including repairs to roads, local water systems and state-owned facilities.
State House GOP releases $600 million public works plan
The proposal is considerably smaller than the bonding plan proposed by DFL Gov. Mark Dayton, who wants to borrow $1.5 billion for roads, bridges, college campuses and other public projects.
May 1, 2017 at 10:11PM
The bonding proposal, offered exactly three weeks before the end of the legislative session, is far smaller than the $1.5 billion plan DFL Gov. Mark Dayton offered in January and is likely to prompt significant debate between GOP leaders and the governor. An approximately $1 billion bonding plan collapsed in the final minutes of the 2016 session over dispute related to light rail funding.
In a news release, House Republicans noted that the smaller proposal was "one of the state's largest bonding bills ever assembled in an odd-numbered year." (The Legislature typically approves public works borrowing packages in even-numbered years.)
"The focus is squarely on improving our state's infrastructure, sticking with the priorities during what is, by definition, not a bonding year," said Rep. Dean Urdahl, R-Grove City, chairman of the House Capital Investment Committee. "This is the first step in our process to get projects rolling."
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