Walz requests record $2.7 billion public construction package

Jan. 19—Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz proposed a public construction package Tuesday that carries a hefty price tag but not a lot of glitz.

The record-shattering $2.7 billion public construction plan that would invest heavily in repairing and upgrading the buildings and other structures that the state and local governments already own but spends little to nothing on sports stadiums, theaters, museums and other flashy projects that might fall into the nice-but-not-essential category.

The previous record high was $1.9 billion in the 2020 bonding bill.

The Democratic-Farmer-Labor governor called for spending $1 billion — 38 percent of the bonding bill total — on what's known in government jargon as "asset preservation." That means fixing and remodeling aging buildings, upgrading sewer and water systems, repairing and improving roads and bridges and the like.

"For Minnesotans to know, this is your property. These are assets that belong to the people of Minnesota, and keeping them and modernizing them and making them accessible to all Minnesotans. ... That's what the bonding bill does," Walz said during a news conference outside the University of Minnesota's $44 million Institute of Child Development building now under construction that he and the Legislature funded two years ago.

His "local jobs and projects plan," as he calls the bonding bill, includes $260 million to repair and upgrade buildings at the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota State higher education system and $111 million for the Department of Natural Resources to patch up buildings, roads, trails, public water access and recreational facilities.

The most expensive single new building in his package is a $72 million chemistry undergraduate teaching laboratory at the University of Minnesota. It would replace obsolete facilities in use since the early 1900s with modern labs that would support emerging teaching methods.

With Minnesota's $7.7 billion budget surplus, strong credit ratings and historically low interest rates, Walz said this is when the state should invest in repairing and replacing critical infrastructure.

REPUBLICAN, DEMOCRATIC VIEWS

But Walz's price tag is "very, very aggressive," said Senate Republican Majority Leader Jeremy Miller of Winona.

Senate Republicans haven't yet settled on a bonding spending limit, he said, but it certainly wouldn't be $2.7 billion.

"I don't think there's an appetite in the Legislature to go anywhere near that number," Miller said.

But Walz's proposal got a much warmer reception from a leader in the DFL-controlled House.

"In communities throughout Minnesota, there is an immense need for investment in local projects and resources that bring jobs and opportunities to the region, especially when it comes to investing in marginalized Minnesotans and addressing our state's housing crisis," House Capital Investment Committee Chair Fue Lee, DFL-Minneapolis, said in a statement. "The House (committee) will be crafting a robust bonding bill this session that delivers for all Minnesotans."

AGENCIES, LOCALS REQUESTED MORE

While Walz's proposal is robust, it would provide less than half the $5.5 billion that state agencies and local governments requested.

One of the more showy and expensive requests that Walz did not back was Ramsey County's top-priority ask for $26 million from the state for the proposed Park at RiversEdge, which would develop the former county jail site just west of the Wabasha Street Bridge and connect downtown St. Paul to the Mississippi River by extending the park over railroad tracks and Shepard Road to the riverbank.

Instead, the governor recommended more modest projects for St. Paul, such as a new community center and Como Zoo improvements.

His funding plan calls for $2 billion in general obligation bonds, which require a two-thirds supermajority vote by the Legislature, plus $276 million in cash and $250 million in other borrowing.

He asked for $120 million for local bridge replacements and $90 million for local road improvements, but said he will seek more transportation funding in a supplemental budget bill he will propose in coming weeks. How the state will spend the first installment on some $6.8 billion (over 5 years) in federal infrastructure money for projects like bridge repairs and replacing lead water pipes will also be addressed in that supplemental budget plan.

Walz on Tuesday also recommended $450 million for safe and affordable housing projects and $200 million for local sewer and water grants and loans. He requested $100 million for "equity" projects for Black, Native and communities of color organizations that traditionally have been excluded from state construction funding.

In addition, Walz proposed spending $262 million on environmental projects, including $60 million for bus rapid transit lines, $20 million for local flood-control projects and $13.8 million for electric vehicle charging stations.

The bonding bill will be a top priority of the Legislature, which reconvenes Jan. 31.