ST. PAUL, MN – Governor Mark Dayton today visited Minnesota State University Moorhead and the Lewis & Clark water project in Worthington, urging legislators to compromise on terms for a Special Session. Since June 1st, Governor Dayton has been calling on legislative leaders to agree to needed investments in higher education, job creation, and public safety before he will call a Special Session. As of now, House Speaker Kurt Daudt, Senate Minority Leader David Hann, and their respective Caucuses have been resistant to making those urgently-needed investments.

 

“It is time now for the Legislature to come back to St. Paul and finish their work,” said Governor Dayton. “Minnesotans deserve better college classrooms, clean water infrastructure, tax cuts for 650,000 people, and thousands of jobs from comprehensive bonding and transportation bills."

 

 

After carefully reviewing each of the bills passed during the final hours of the 2016 Legislative Session, Governor Dayton signed into law new investments in prekindergarten education, broadband expansion, economic equity, and more. However, after discovering a $101 million error in the Tax Bill, Governor Dayton issued this letter to legislative leaders, outlining his compromise conditions, urging them to correct the Tax Bill and agree to essential investments in education, job creation, and public safety that were neglected during the Regular Session.

 

As of yet, Republican legislators have not agreed to those eminently reasonable requirements, leaving in doubt: tax cuts for 650,000 Minnesotans; essential investments in higher education and clean water infrastructure; and needed funding for initiatives that will assure the public’s safety.

 

 

·         Tax Cuts for 650,000 Minnesotans – Governor Dayton supports this year’s Omnibus Tax bill, which would cut taxes for 650,000 Minnesotans, including farmers, veterans, college graduates, working families, and more. It also included disaster relief funding for Madelia, increases in Local Government Aid and County Program Aid, and other essential provisions for a Better Minnesota. Unfortunately, the bill passed in the final hours of the Regular Session included a $101 million error; therefore, the Governor could not sign it into law. Governor Dayton stands ready to sign the corrected bill into law during a Special Session.

 

·         Urgently-Needed Investments in Higher Education, Clean Water, and Public Safety – Because the House waited until the last minute to propose a bonding bill, the Legislature ran out of time to pass the bill in the final minutes of the Regular Session. The bill was full of errors, and did not meet the needs of Minnesota’s communities. Governor Dayton has called on Speaker Daudt and all four Caucuses to agree to fix the errors in the bonding bill, and include additional essential investments in the bonding bill for higher education and public safety. If legislative leaders agree to this compromise, communities across Minnesota will benefit from urgently-needed investments in clean water infrastructure, higher education improvements, and other essential infrastructure needs.

 

·         Needed Funding for Higher Education, Job Creation, and Public Safety – The budget passed in Regular Session did not include adequate funding for Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU), essential public safety needs, and actually cut funding for the Minnesota Investment Fund (MIF) and the Minnesota Job Creation Fund, which have created thousands of jobs over the last several years. Governor Dayton is urging legislative leaders to include additional funding for MnSCU, the University of Minnesota, autism services, safe staffing levels at the St. Peter Security Hospital, National Guard security improvements to protect our soldiers, and restoring funding for MIF and the Minnesota Job Creation Fund.

 

 

·         Moorhead Rail Grade Separation Project – The City of Moorhead is divided by five active rail lines that carry over 85 trains each day, negatively impacting vehicular, emergency services and first responder’s traffic and economic vitality. Unfortunately, the Legislature failed to pass a bonding bill that included funding for a Moorhead rail safety project. As part of special session, Governor Dayton is insisting that the bonding bill include $34.5 million to separate rail and road traffic – improving safety for motorists, pedestrians, bicyclists, transit, residents, and businesses.

 

·         Minnesota State University Moorhead Infrastructure – If passed, the bonding bill would invest $670,800 to make critical infrastructure improvements at the Minnesota State University Moorhead. This funding would be used to replace the MacLean Hall roof, which houses a number of disciplines including math, history, economics, world languages, and other critical resources, such as the math tutoring center and university bookstore.

 

“I would like to thank Governor Dayton and our local legislators for their support of the bonding request and the supplemental budget,” said MSUM President Anne Blackhurst. “Staying ahead on infrastructure repairs to the bricks and mortar of a university is an ongoing process.  If you neglect these efforts for even one year, both the scale of the task and the cost of the task intensifies, while the quality of our student’s educational experience is diminished.”

 

 

·         Lewis & Clark Regional Water System – If passed, the bonding bill would invest $11.5 million in the Lewis & Clark Regional Water System to deliver water to the City of Worthington to meet the growing needs of businesses and residents. This funding would complete the project and deliver water to more than 20,000 Minnesotans.

 

“Once completed to Worthington, the Lewis & Clark Regional Water System will provide safe, reliable drinking water that will improve the quality of life to our residents,” said Worthington Mayor Mike Kuhle. “The system will also stimulate our economy by attracting new businesses and address the needs of our current industries that need this water supply to stay and grow.”

 

·         Minnesota West Community and Technical College Infrastructure – As part of the bonding bill, Governor Dayton is insisting upon new investments in basic maintenance at MnSCU campuses statewide, including $1.3 million for Minnesota West Community and Technical College. The resources would be used to replace the roof of the Library and Academic Resource Center at the Minnesota West campus in Worthington.

 

Governor Dayton is urging Minnesotans to contact their legislators, and encourage them to: 1) agree to the Governor’s compromise terms for a Special Session, which would make urgently needed investments in a Better Minnesota; and 2) do the work they left unfinished during the 2016 Legislative Session. Minnesotans can contact their legislators by using the “Who Represents Me?” tool on the Legislative Coordinating Commission’s website.