Outside the House chambers, union workers in hard hats chanted "Build it! Build it!"
Inside, House members began the debate what to build -- or whether to build at all -- as a $496 million bonding bill came to the floor Monday morning.
"Better something than nothing," said Rep. Tom Rukavina, DFL-Virginia, as the House began debate on a bill that is probably bigger than some members would like and smaller than others would have liked. If passed, it would fund construction and preservation projects across the state.
The half-billion dollar capital-projects bill expanded over the weekend from an earlier total of $496 million. The vote on the bill was delayed last Friday, amid concerns about lopsided funding between the state's two public higher education systems.
On Friday, the University of Minnesota system was slated to receive $54 million, mostly for maintenance and repair projects around its campuses, while the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system would have gotten $144 million. Over the weekend, negotiators gave the U of M system an extra $10 million and reduced MnSCU funding by $12 million, narrowing the funding gap to $64 million and $132 million respectively.
Other changes over the weekend included restoring $19 million to build an education center at Camp Ripley. The state agency that runs the Minnesota Zoo lost $1 million over the weekend, leaving it with a proposed $4 million for asset preservation – like fixing the leaky dolphin tank. Minneapolis's Phillips pool stayed in the bill, with $1.75 million earmarked to save the last inner-city pool in the city.
As before, the bill tilts heavily toward bricks-and-mortar projects like flood mitigation and bridge repairs, and leaves out most local projects like convention centers, the Southwest rail corridor, a face-lift for Nicollet Mall or a new ballpark for the St. Paul Saints.
