When Minnesota lawmakers return from vacation on Monday, their top priority must be negotiating a bonding bill that can win the required 60 percent majority in each chamber and make its way onto the governor’s desk. Getting that done is going to mean lawmakers from both sides of the aisle, but particularly from among the ranks of Republicans who control both the House and Senate, will have to step up their efforts to get the job done.

Bonding — a means of borrowing money — is the mechanism that lets the state carry out or help carry out major construction projects. This year, that’s of particular concern in the Austin area, where hopes are high the bill will include $13.5 million for the Hormel Institute’s proposed expansion, a project that would mean many good construction jobs for a time and then a substantial boost to the area’s permanent employment rolls.

Although other matters, such as constitutional amendments and stadiums, have occupied much of the legislative session, bonding is really the major issue of the year and lawmakers have already placed the success of this year’s session in doubt by letting that major issue languish. That’s particularly true in the House, where the leadership brought forward a proposed bonding plan that is so weak it will certainly not find enough votes to pass. Emblematic of the House version’s weakness was the Republican leadership’s decision to include only a portion of the Institute project’s funds — despite the Senate and governor’s wholehearted support of the project. Perhaps Rep. Rich Murray, a Republican whose district includes part of Mower County, can exert some influence on behalf of the Institute project.

A review of the projects proposed in any of the three bonding bill versions — the governor’s, the Senate’s or the House’s — shows that very few are likely to create a large number of jobs other than the Hormel Institute expansion. It needs full support in the House. And both chambers need to get done the necessary work to ensure an adequate bonding bill becomes law this spring.