Politics Friday: Bonding bill stirs up debate, but what will it take to get a deal?
MPR News Host Brian Bakst is joined by Senate Capital Investment Committee Chair Sandra Pappas and Rep. Dean Urdahl, R-Grove City, the top Republican on the House Capital Investment Committee.
They’ll have big roles in shaping this year’s construction projects package known as the bonding bill. Minnesota lawmakers are sorting through billions of dollars in requests this year for publicly financed construction projects, but only a small fraction will make the cut.
The package requires bipartisan cooperation between DFLers and Republicans.
It was a big political week with Super Tuesday, where results from 17 states and territories all but set up the fall race between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.
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They won in Minnesota, but there was a significant turnout for the “uncommitted” vote, a campaign where Democrats voted uncommitted to show their dissatisfaction with the Biden administration’s handling of the conflict in the Middle East.
Republican Nikki Haley and Democratic U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota left the presidential race.
And later, we talk with University of Minnesota political science professor Michael Minta about his takeaways and the grueling campaign to come.
Guests:
Sen. Sandra L. Pappas, DFL-St. Paul, is the chair of the Senate Capital Investment Committee.
Rep. Dean Urdahl, R-Grove City, is his party’s lead member on the House Capital Investment Committee.
Michael Minta is a professor of political science at the University of Minnesota.
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