Minnesota House passes bonding bill with funds for infrastructure projects, future path uncertain

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Minnesota House on Monday approved a funding package to support a variety of infrastructure projects in communities across the state, but its future in the Senate remains uncertain as Republicans pledge to vote it down if tax cuts don't pass first.

The $1.9 billion plan includes a large bonding bill and $400 million in cash from the General Fund. Some proposals include upgrades to buildings at the University of Minnesota and Minnesota State systems; improvements to local roads and bridges; and a major renovation to the Veterans Home campus in Hastings.

The state would also finance replacing lead service lines, support water infrastructure grants and provide funds to build behavioral health facilities, among several other projects.

Both proposals cleared the state House Monday night with bipartisan support.

"Hundreds of critical infrastructure projects have gone unfunded for too long," said Rep. Fue Lee, DFL-Minneapolis. "It's been almost three years, since October of 2020, that we had a bonding bill for the entire state."

House Democrats in a news conference on Monday said the legislation stems from the bipartisan framework agreed to last year that fell apart when negotiations in the divided legislature broke down before session's end.

Even the DFL is in total control of the capitol, Democrats can't pass a bonding bill without bipartisan buy-in. The state constitution requires three-fifths of members in both chambers -- a supermajority -- to authorize a borrowing measure.

Lee and House Speaker Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, were optimistic they could approve legislation with their Republican colleagues Monday. But the three-fifths requirement gives the minority party political leverage, which the Senate GOP intends to use.

During a separate news conference Monday, Republicans in that chamber said they don't necessarily have any problems with the projects in the proposal, but vowed to block its passage in the Senate until there's a promise to return some of the massive $17 billion budget surplus back to taxpayers.

"Our priority, and what we've heard from the people of Minnesota, is give it back first before we put anything on the credit card," said Sen. Kari Housley, R-Stillwater.

Hortman criticized the approach of the Senate GOP, saying House Republicans have similarly in the past tried to use the bonding bill as a negotiating tactic.

"The bonding bill really should rise or fall on its own merits," Hortman said. "I think Minnesotans have been pretty clear that they don't want politicians tying one thing to another thing to play leverage games. They just want us to get the work done."

The speaker also said she anticipates another bonding proposal introduced later in session, noting that the bill before the legislature Monday reflects 2022 priorities carried over. But they could scrap that and start over if Senate Republicans thwart passage of this bill, she added, and go their own way by using General Fund cash, which would require only a simple majority to pass.

"We are at a point session -- a week from today is the halfway point -- where we have to start putting together the 2023 bonding bill, which I referred to as the 'with or without you' bill," Hortman said. "We really like to do that with Republicans. But at the end of the day, it's not acceptable to Minnesotans to go this long, without another bonding bill."

The state is sitting on a more than $17 billion surplus, with much of it being one-time funding. The legislature will need to pass the next two-year budget before session's end.

When asked about the potential for Democrats to go at an infrastructure package alone, Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks, denounced the idea. Republicans have expressed frustration of feeling shut out of the process as the DFL holds its trifecta power.

"The idea that they are going to try to bypass half of the legislature in order to get an all-cash bill done, to avoid tax cuts back to Minnesotans -- they should be ashamed to even bring that up," Johnson said.

Republicans are pushing for a large tax plan that includes full exemption of Social Security benefits from state income tax, income tax rate cuts and rebate checks to Minnesotans.

Democrats are also weighing tax reductions, largely targeting the relief to lower-income residents.