$975M House construction bills include campus projects, civic center upgrades

ST. PAUL, Minn. — A $975 million Minnesota House construction package released Tuesday loads up on college campus projects, provides for statewide civic center upgrades and makes another Capitol restoration installment.

The proposal comes in two parts. One authorizes $850 million in state-backed borrowing and the other draws $125 million in cash from a budget surplus.

House Capital Investment Chairwoman Alice Hausman, who preferred a plan with many more projects and a bigger price tag, didn't hide her disappointment in her own proposal.

"The one defining word is 'inadequate,'" Hausman, DFL-St. Paul, said.

The two-part strategy is unique and reflects the political dynamics of bonding bills; those authorizing debt require Republican votes to meet the three-fifths vote requirement while the cash bill only needs a simple majority.

That helps explain why several theater projects, which some GOP legislators have described as unnecessary, are in the second bill.

Rep. Matt Dean of Dellwood, the leading Republican on the committee, said it was too soon to declare support or opposition.

Last year, GOP leaders said they would help pass a borrowing plan capped at $850 million. Hausman said she wouldn't bring her main bill to a floor vote without getting a commitment from Republicans that they will supply at least eight votes needed if all 73 Democrats stay united. Last spring she thought she had such a pledge and saw a borrowing package fall to defeat.

Once the House passes its proposals, they must be matched up with a competing Senate version.

The University of Minnesota and the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system benefit the most.

The University nets $175 million in projects, from a new chemical sciences lab on the Duluth campus to a large-scale remodeling of the James Ford Bell Museum of Natural History in Minneapolis. At MnSCU, more than $193 million has been allocated for projects spread across almost two dozen campuses. A $30 million chunk has been set aside to rehabilitate aging buildings.

There is also an emphasis on helping regional centers complete convention center fixes. Mankato, Rochester and St. Cloud share $55 million in construction money.

"It's our way of saying we know this is something we are all committed to but we don't quite know the path it is going to take this legislative session," Hausman said.

Dean said it's essential that lawmakers come up with the full installment to prevent costly delays in a Capitol restoration that has bipartisan support.