|
Area lawmakers cite progress before break
Associate Editor Progress was reported on a number of fronts by area legislators Wednesday as the Minnesota Legislature prepared to break over the Easter and Passover holidays.
A key development Wednesday was the House's passing of a bonding bill of nearly $1 billion. Of that number the state would borrow $949 million with the remainder being paid for by colleges.
Rep. Paul Gazelka, R-Brainerd, said $400,000 was included in the House-passed bonding bill for the Cuyuna Lakes Trail. Gazelka said he had hoped for more money for acquisition and development of the trail that would link the Paul Bunyan Trail and Aitkin, but the final amount was larger than what the House had earlier considered. At the session's outset he had planned to introduce legislation for $1.1 million for the Cuyuna trail system.
The first-term lawmaker said there's no funding in the House version of the bonding bill for a meth treatment center for women at the Brainerd Regional Human Services Center. He said that request might have been made a little late for ample consideration by the House.
Gazelka voted in favor of the bill and said that it called for $12 million for clean water projects, more than $300 million for education and more money for roads and bridges than the Senate bill provided.
"I wish the number ($949 million in general state debt) had been a little lower, closer to the governor's," he said. "Overall, the vast majority of the projects were of state significance."
He said the House tax bill had not yet made it to the floor but he would ask Speaker Steve Sviggum to use his influence to see that the local-option sales tax bill for Brainerd, Baxter, Nisswa and Pequot Lakes was included in that bill.
Progress was reported by Sen. Paul Koering, R-Fort Ripley, on the Senate tax bill, but he said it would have to be completed after the Legislature's scheduled break. As it stands now, Koering said, that bill also includes $2.5 million for the city of Nisswa to make intersection improvements in connection with Minnesota Department of Transportation's planned improvements to Highway 371. Koering said Nisswa Mayor Harold Kraus had testified before the Senate Tax Committee on his city's plight.
Koering expressed concern, however, that he might have to eventually vote against the bill because the Senate may include a tax increase in the legislation.
"It's going to be a hard bill for me to vote for," he said. "There's talk of having everything be in one gigantic bill."
In the House, Rep. Greg Blaine, R-Little Falls, has reintroduced legislation calling for a state sales tax exemption for milk and water sold in vending machines. He said he authored the bill in response to growing concerns about childhood obesity and a desire to provide healthier choices for consumers. The bill was in the House taxes omnibus package in 2005 but was eliminated in the conference committee.
MIKE O'ROURKE can be reached at mike.orourke@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5860.
|
Mostly Clear, 80°
