Touting job creation and higher education, DFLers kicked off the 2010 legislative session with a $1 billion public works proposal that was already drawing partisan rancor.
That's far larger than what Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty proposed and is a signal that DFLers may take a more aggressive stand with a governor who is heading into his final year in office.
DFLers say their proposal could put 10,000 jobs in the pipeline and they plan to fast-track the legislation so that it passes both chambers by mid-month -- a timetable they say would allow some work to begin after spring thaws.
As much as one-fourth of the funding in Senate and House proposals is earmarked for Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, more than twice what Pawlenty proposed. The bills also would greatly outspend the governor on metro transit and fund work on civic centers and arts projects rejected by the governor.
While the House and Senate bills are substantially larger than Pawlenty's $685 million proposal, they lack his single biggest funding initiative: expansion of sex offender treatment facilities.
Rep. Alice Hausman, DFL-St. Paul, and Sen. Keith Langseth, DFL-Glyndon, who lead the House and Senate bonding panel, said the bills rejected Pawlenty's proposed doubling of capacity at the Moose Lake treatment facility because of doubts about the program.
In justifying the larger bill, Hausman said that "the one bright spot in a bad economy is interest rates are low and bids are coming in low."
House Minority Leader Kurt Zellers, R-Maple Grove, complained that the bonding bills provide "money for civic centers, tennis courts ... but we're not locking up violent sex offenders."