Progressive coalition: More infrastructure spending needed for job growth

A coalition of national labor and environmental groups released a report today calling for significant additional spending on roads, sewers, water lines and other public projects in Minnesota.

The report from the BlueGreen Alliance calls for investing over $4 billion per year over the next two decades. It estimates such investment in Minnesota would create 114,000 jobs.

"We've got an opportunity to be creating our jobs, preventing the effects of climate change, and better protecting our communities," said former state Sen. Tarryl Clark, who represents the group.

Duluth Mayor Don Ness called for federal and state partnerships to help cities repair aging facilities. He said Duluth that kind of help for its recent project to stop sewage overflows into Lake Superior.

"We were only able to do that because of the partnership with state and federal government," Ness said. "We were able to get low-interest loans and grant dollars to make these important investments and drive down the cost to our ratepayers and taxpayers."

But Ness said federal officials are cutting low-interest loan programs that help local governments make needed upgrades without overburdening local ratepayers.