House to vote on $1B borrowing bill
The debate over government's role in job creation will surface again Monday at the State Capitol, when the House is expected to vote on a proposal to borrow $1 billion for public construction projects.
DFL leaders say the large bonding bill will provide an economic boost throughout the state by providing needed construction jobs. The list of projects range from college buildings to hiking trails.
DFL House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher says final approval of the measure needs to come quickly.
"Minnesotans who are out of work are not really interested in a delay in this bill," said Kelliher. "It takes a number of days to contract a project after it gets approval and signature by the governor, and we want to be sure we don't lose the entire construction season out of this."
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But House Republican Minority Leader Kurt Zellers of Maple Grove says the bill is too big and the job benefits are oversold.
"I don't know that hurrying up to rush to spend money is exactly what the taxpayers, the voters out there, are really excited about," said Zellers. "I think that the president and Washington Democrats have crop-dusted the country with money, and our unemployment rate went up from 8 percent to 10 percent. So I don't know that that's a recipe for success or a recipe for job creation."
Zellers said he prefers a jobs strategy that provides tax breaks and incentives to businesses.
The DFL bill is more than $300 million larger than Gov. Tim Pawlenty's bonding proposal. The House bill also excludes an $89 million expansion of the sex offender treatment facility in Moose Lake which Pawlenty identified as a high priority for funding.