Dayton to announce proposal for public construction projects
Published 9:44 am Wednesday, January 4, 2017
ST. PAUL — Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton offers his proposal Wednesday for statewide spending on construction projects.
The Democratic governor’s plan comes a full year after he put a $1.4 billion borrowing proposal into the hands of a divided Legislature that ultimately did nothing. This year Republicans control both the Houses and Senate.
The proposal may include new infrastructure for the state’s sex offender treatment program, just a day after an appeals court ruled the program is constitutional.
But there’s no assurance that Dayton’s retooled list of projects will get a greenlight in 2017. While Democrats are pushing to pass a bonding bill early in the session so much-needed infrastructure improvements across the state don’t pile up, GOP leaders say those big construction projects should wait until 2018, when budget pressures have subsided.