The Minnesota GOP Senate and DFL Gov. Mark Dayton, as well as the minority DFL caucus in the House, have all put forth bonding proposals to address the critical and unmet needs of building projects all over the state.

Now the Minnesota House GOP majority must get a sense of urgency to put forth its own proposal so we can get this bonding done. It should have been done last year. But the House GOP waited until the closing days and minutes of the session last year. The bonding bill failed in the ensuing chaos. That was bad management.

So all those projects just got more expensive through inflation. We are also now in an environment where interest rates will continue to rise maybe two or three times this year. Millions of taxpayer dollars have been wasted with the delay.

The Senate GOP majority, to its credit, has come forth with a bonding bill. The governor’s bonding bill was out months ago. And a few weeks ago, the House DFL put forth a proposal in an unusual move in an effort to get this conversation jump-started.

The minority party in the House does not normally propose any bonding bill. House Capital Investment Committee Chairman Dean Urdahl, R-Grove City, said he plans to propose a bonding bill and thinks the GOP will get one done.

That’s good to hear, but Urdahl also said that while he would like to get a bonding bill done sooner than later, he “doesn’t call the shots.”

So, it’s incumbent on House Speaker Kurt Daudt to “call the shots” and get a bonding bill out of the House soon. We’ve already wasted enough time on this issue.

Many critical projects remain in the balance including a $70 million renovation of the St. Peter Security Hospital and $6.5 million to finish Minnesota State University’s clinical sciences building. The Senate bill includes $200 million Corridors of Commerce funding, some of which would go to the completion of Highway 14 as a four-lane highway from Rochester to New Ulm.

Many of the rural areas Republicans in the House represent desperately need things like upgrades to their water treatment plants and other basic infrastructure needs.

It’s time for the House GOP to get serious about bonding. We urge their constituents to contact them and demand this unfinished work get done.

— Mankato Free Press, March 31