When we caught up with House Capital Investment chair Alice Hausman, DFL-St. Paul, after this morning's Finance Committee hearing, she summed up the continuing back-and-forth between the two sides this way: "I'm growing increasingly pessimistic over the chances that we will get to a point where the governor will sign a bonding bill without line-item vetoes. It's beginning to seem outside the realm of possibility."
Legislative staffers are crunching numbers in advance of a meeting of the House Capital Investment Division late this afternoon at which the committee will present a new bonding proposal that DFLers hope is closer to a bill that Gov. Tim Pawlenty will accept.
Minnesota Management and Budget Commissioner Tom Hanson said today he's "not foolish enough" to think the final bonding bill will be $725 million. But at this point, Gov. Pawlenty maintains that $725 million is the limit.
State legislators met this afternoon with Gov. Pawlenty's legislative liaison Chris DeLaForest to discuss further their differences on the bonding bill.
GOP and DFL legislators and Pawlenty's legislative liaison Chris DeLaForest are expected to meet later today on the bonding bill.
Key legislators plan to meet again with Gov. Tim Pawlenty at 9 a.m. Thursday to discuss their differences on the bonding bill. On Wednesday afternoon, Pawlenty met with all the conferees that earlier this week approved a $1 billion borrowing bill.
House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher took everyone in the room by surprise when she announced at an impromptu presser Tuesday afternoon that the Legislature would invoke an obscure parliamentary play to pull back a $1 billion bonding bill that Gov. Tim Pawlenty had promised to veto on arrival.
by Charley Shaw
Published: February 17, 2010
Tags: Alice Hausman, Ann Lynch, bonding, Bud Nornes, David Tomassoni, Greg Davids, Jean Wagenius, Jim Abeler, Keith Langseth, Larry Howes, Michael Paymar, Paul Anderson, Paul Koering, Tim Pawlenty
The House and Senate are rushing into conference committee this week, hoping to make good on the pledge of DFL leaders that an early bonding package will be passed quickly.
The House on the floor tucked the Moose Lake sex offender facility expansion into its bonding bill. The project, which is a Pawlenty administration priority, will likely get debated in conference committee.
Sometimes the most notable parts of a much-dissected, high-profile address involve what is not said. Specifically, we were curious to see whether Gov. Tim Pawlenty's last State of the State address would repeat his threat to veto the entire DFL-sponsored bonding bill if he doesn't like its size or contents. It did not.
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