Local provisions in bonding bill approved by House

ST. PAUL – Provisions to fund construction of a Bemidji State University academic learning center and a veterans home in the city are among provisions in a capital investment bill the Minnesota House approved on Monday.

“This bill is a major win for our area,” said Rep. Matt Bliss, R-Pennington. “The vets home and the Hagg-Sauer projects are two of my top priorities this session and it is encouraging to see both subjects are included in this bill. We still have a lot of work to do to get this across the finish line, but it certainly is encouraging to receive preliminary approval from the full House.”

The package featuring $825 million in general obligation bonds, including $22.5 million for BSU to demolish Hagg-Sauer Hall and construct a new academic learning center on the same site. Funding also would be used to renovate, furnish and equip space in Bangsberer Hall, Sattgast Hall, A.C. Clark Library, Bridgeman Hall and Bensen Hall.

The veterans homes component uses $26 million in excess reserves from the Vikings stadium account to fund construction of facilities in Bemidji, Montevideo and Preston. The funding is provided through the same funding mechanism proposed in the House’s omnibus state government finance package. The reserve account for the Vikings stadium is running an excess, expected to reach $58 million by the end of the current biennium and grow to $120.2 million at the end of next biennium. This bill would allocate a portion of that funding for constructing veterans homes in each of the aforementioned cities.

Overall, more than two-thirds of the bill’s bonding provisions are dedicated to bricks-and-mortar projects, such as roads and bridges, water infrastructure and statewide asset preservation.

The bonding portion of the bill includes:

• $364 million for asset preservation such as state-owned buildings

• $120 million for road and transportation infrastructure

• $153 million for water and conservation projects

• $188 million for “other” projects, such as:

  • $25 million for school safety

  • $25 million for mental health centers

With funding such as trunk highway bonds included, the bill provides an additional $254 million for transportation, another $10 million for water/conservation and $127 million in other funding for a total of $1.2 billion.

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