The Free Press, Mankato, MN

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March 11, 2010

Our View: Legislature, governor win one for the people

The Free Press

MANKATO — The Minnesota Legislature and Gov. Tim Pawlenty deserve credit for coming to agreement on a bonding bill in a truly unprecedented timeline.

It appears they will agree on a bonding bill somewhere between $700 million and $1 billion and they will do so in record fashion. If you’re down on politics and down on gridlock, this effort should offer you hope.

Both parties in the Legislature played their role, and represented the citizens and their constituents well. Legislators started out doing what they should do — representing the interests of their communities with bonding projects. They advocated for projects in their districts, many that were worthy of statewide funding and had statewide benefits.

The state’s bankbook, and credit limit, is only so big, however, so some projects didn’t make the cut. Still, the governor got some of the necessary projects he wanted, some a “need” like expansion of sex offender facilities, and some a “want” like land purchased for a new tremendous state park on Lake Vermillion.

Legislators, as should be the case, also got some of what they needed, and we hope the final bonding bill also, like the governor’s priorities, include at least a few wants.

Much of the bonding bill simply funded state assets that need maintenance, like new roofs at state buildings, upgrade labs at state universities and repairs to structures decades old. It’s the Legislature and governor’s fiscal responsibility to maintain those assets as stewards of the state.

We still believe civic centers, including Mankato’s, should get at least some of the money they requested. This decision would be consistent with that made two years ago by the nearly same Legislature and incumbent governor. Civic centers were funded because they were deemed to have statewide interest. Hockey venues in Duluth and Bemidji were deemed to have statewide interest and benefit. Civic centers in Rochester and Mankato were rightly approved this year.

Legislators of both parties and the governor should also be given credit for completing the bonding bill at a very early date so as to kickstart construction projects and jobs, sooner rather than later. Bids will be lower than usual because of the desire for companies to generate business. That benefits taxpayers.

At the same time, the construction season can kick into full gear on these projects in April or May instead of August or September. And given the state of the economy, the sooner we can generate jobs the better.

The public’s perception of politics in general is low, perhaps, unreasonable so in these stressful times. But the work of the governor and the Legislature in Minnesota deserve praise and should give everyone a little more confidence that our system can work to the benefits of citizens and taxpayers.

 

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