Lawmakers look for ‘quick action’ on bonding bill

Governor’s MnSCU priorities at issue in Capital Investment hearing

The chair of the House Capital Investment Committee hopes to move quickly on a major bonding bill in the upcoming legislative session.

At an informal hearing of the committee Thursday, Rep. Alice Hausman, DFL-St. Paul, said the goal is to have a bill completed and introduced in the House by Feb. 4, the opening day of the session, with a hearing in the Capital Investment committee by Feb. 9.

Hausman said the plan is to take “final action” on a bonding bill by Feb. 15, although she cautioned that the timeline is subject to change.

What’s unlikely to change is a sense of urgency to get a construction spending bill out as quickly as possible in order to pump jobs into the economy and take advantage of favorable market conditions, such as attractive interest rates and low construction bids.

One thing that came out of the bipartisan House Jobs Task Force meetings held at the Capitol this past fall is that bonding dollars should go out the door quickly so builders can take full advantage of the coming construction season.

There’s also a sense of urgency to capitalize on the bidding climate, which is producing bids that are one-third less - or lower - compared with previous years. The general feeling is that taxpayer dollars will go further if the state acts sooner rather than later.

“We have to take that seriously,” Hausman said at Thursday’s hearing.

No formal action was taken at the meeting, which focused primarily on Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s bonding recommendations.

Pawlenty’s $685 million bonding proposal, unveiled last Friday, includes $100 million for University of Minnesota projects (including $53.3 million for a new physics and nanotechnology building), $93.12 million for Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, $99.5 million for transportation, $97.85 for human services, and $88.5 million for natural resources, among other priorities.

The governor’s overall 2010 capital budget - including trunk highway bonds and cash, general fund cash, and other funding sources - is $815 million.

Tom Hanson, commissioner of Minnesota Management and Budget, said the governor’s overall capital budget priorities focus on the state’s “most urgent needs,” including asset preservation, commitment to “core state activities” and “long-term capacity for economic growth.”

‘Duct tape and bailing wire’

At Thursday’s hearing, one hot-button topic was the governor’s MnSCU priorities.

Pawlenty’s 2010 general obligation bonding recommendations include $50 million for MnSCU asset preservation, $15.33 million for an Academic Partnership Center at Normandale Community College, and $9.86 million for a business and technology center at North Hennepin Community College.

There’s also $8.07 million for a health science addition at Lake Superior College, $3.6 million for a health center renovation at St. Cloud Tech College, $3.65 million for a tech shop addition at Mesabi Range Community and Technical College, and $2.59 million for general classroom renovation and demolition.

Hanson noted that Normandale and North Hennepin “sorely need additional space.” And Mesabi’s industrial mechanical technology program is currently “in a big quonset hut, away from campus itself and they don’t even have enough restroom facilities.”

One campus that didn’t make the cut was Metro State University, which is seeking $5.86 million for “technology-enhanced classrooms and academic offices” and $3.44 million for a science education center design and property acquisition.

Metro State’s absence from the recommended projects list irritated some lawmakers, including Rep. Tim Mahoney, DFL-St. Paul, who cited the need for more science and math instruction. Existing science classrooms there are “essentially liberal arts classrooms,” Mahoney said.

“Metro State is one of the largest training facilities for the future work force in the metro area,” Mahoney said.

Rep. Tom Rukavina, DFL-Virginia, said it’s the first time in his 23 years in the Legislature that a four-year MnSCU school has been left without a project in a governor’s bonding recommendations.

“What’s the rationale?” he asked.

Also missing from the governor’s proposed bonding package is Dakota County Technical College, which covets $3.5 million for property acquisition and $7.23 million for a Transportation and Emerging Technologies Lab.

Rep. Rick Hansen, DFL-South St. Paul, said Dakota County Technical College has some major needs. In his words, “a lot of duct tape and baling wire” have been keeping things together.

Tom Hanson said there are a number of worthwhile projects, but it was a matter of priorities. Space constraints at Normandale and North Hennepin put those initiatives ahead of some other worthy projects, he said.

“We think [Metro State] is a necessary project, but MnSCU indicates that the facility is currently stable and that Metro State’s space utilization rate is lower than other metro campuses, indicating a less pressing need,” Hanson said.

“We had to draw the line somewhere. It doesn’t mean it’s not a good project; it’s just not in our bill this year.”