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Bennett




Dear Friends,

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On Monday, the Minnesota House passed its bipartisan Capital Investment bill, commonly known as the ?bonding bill.?? This bill was basically last year?s bonding bill (with funding increases to projects due to inflation,) which never came to the floor for a vote last session. By in large, there are many necessary infrastructure projects in this bill that should be covered by bonding.?

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I want to start out by saying that I greatly disagree with the way this bill was funded.? With an over $17 billion surplus, I do not believe it is fiscally responsible to bond and pay interest for these projects. Why take out credit when we have the cash to pay for it?

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If I was in charge, this would be a mostly cash bill. However, I am not in charge and don?t get to make that choice. So, I have to weigh the many impacts of voting or not voting for this bill.

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If I decided to hold out for a cash only bill, that puts me in a position as a minority member where I no longer get a say in the projects included and cannot push for responsible, solid infrastructure projects. That?s because cash bonding bills don?t require a super majority like regular bonding bills - just a simple majority. That means no Republican votes are necessary to pass a cash bill. The DFL are free to pass a smaller cash bill containing only their projects with zero Republican input. I want to make sure that we hang onto our Republican input so we have the best possible bill containing as many solid, responsible infrastructure projects as possible.

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In addition, delaying necessary infrastructure projects, which Minnesota is constitutionally obligated to pay for, will cause them to cost more. This drives up the costs for everyone.?

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I worked hard to get our local projects in this bill, and was happy to see included the full funding for the Fountain Lake dredging project along with some beginning funding for the Albert Lea wastewater treatment plant. I was disappointed that we could not get the full funding for the treatment plant. However, with a large number of wastewater treatment plants throughout the state in line for similar funding needs, the full amount for this project was not able to make it into this bill. ?

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MPCA mandates have doubled the costs for our local communities to upgrade?or replace their wastewater treatment plants. This is a huge financial burden and it is impossible for local communities to pay for these additional costs. If the state mandates, then the state should pay for those mandates through bonding or other means.?

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I will continue to work to get the remainder of the Albert Lea wastewater treatment plant funding in the next bonding bill, along with sewer and water infrastructure projects that were recently submitted by the cities of Clark?s Grove and Waldorf.?

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Even with our local projects included, this was a tough vote for me. I am adamantly against taking out credit when we have the cash to pay for it.? However, after weighing the factors I listed above, I decided a YES vote was the best option.?

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Any bonding bill will still need to be passed by the Senate and signed by the Governor before it becomes law.?

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Hope you have a great weekend!

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Peggy

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