Saint Paul, MN- Today, the House Bonding bill failed 69-64 due to the lack of passage by a 3/5, or 60% super majority, of the body’s vote. Rep. Rick Hansen (DFL- South Saint Paul) did not vote for the bill and released the following statement:
“We are seeing a trend of governing from the House GOP this session: lack of public input and prioritization of Republican special interests. The 2016 Bonding bill is the perfect example. Cobbled together behind closed doors, it pushes partisan projects ahead, but fails to meet the needs of our natural resources. Additionally, the $0 for bonding in housing is interconnected to the environment. Water is as important as a roof over our heads.
House Republicans are touting this as a good bill, when the sad reality is that it’s leaving our environment, along with millions of Minnesotans behind. We can add this, along with a transportation and taxes bill, to the ‘to-do’ list for the 72 hours remaining this session.”
The House bill did not include any sort of funding for Robert Street, although a third of the bill is dedicated to transportation funding. The Senate’s version has $12 million in bonds for this project. Also significantly lacking in the House’s bill is the Lilydale-Highway 13 Storm Water Conveyance project, which includes $140,000 in the Senate’s version.
Attached is a spreadsheet from nonpartisan House Fiscal staff demonstrating the sharp contrast of environmental bonding funding under DFL and GOP majorities from 2008-2016.
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