By T.W. Budig
ECM capitol reporter

The $885 million bonding bill took a brief detour to the city of Blaine before being passed by the Minnesota Legislature on Wednesday (April 6).

A victim of last sessionís partisanship, lawmakers this session vowed to quickly pass a bonding bill ñ normally an even-year exercise ñ and after negotiations concluded earlier this week, brought the bill to the House floor.

But instead of immediately passing the bill in a bipartisan display, Capital Investment Committee Chairman Dan Dorman, R-Albert Lea, stood on the House floor and apologized for breaking rules.

He had been mislead, explained Dorman, about language in the bill permitting the Minnesota Amateur Sports Commission to lease land at its facility in Blaine.

The inserted language hadnít originally been in either the House or Senate bonding bills, and therefore shouldnít have been added, Dorman explained.

ìDid I agree to it, sure,î said Dorman, speaking during a House recess.

But he thought the language was backed by an Attorney General Officeís opinion and it wasnít, he explained.

This wasnít some ploy to delay the bonding bill for political reasons, insisted Dorman.

ìItís a bunch of hooey,î said Dorman on the House floor of the idea.

ìWho would think this would be good politics if youíre going to get your rear end kicked,î he said of possible negative reaction from the public over more delay, speaking during a House recess.

Some House Republicans expressed disgust that the Amateur Sports Commission language had found its way into the bill. Rep. Phil Krinkie, R-Shoreview, House Tax Committee Chairman, on the House floor complained that the language was neither passed by the House or Senate.

He chastised lawmakers for not demanding the ìtransparency and sunshine we should all uphold.î

Rep. Mark Olson, R-Big Lake, questioned whether the lease land could be used to site a stadium in Blaine.

But Rep. Andy Westerberg, R-Blaine, a member of the Minnesota Amateur Sports Commission, said the land in question was just 17 acres.

Funding for the Minnesota Amateur Sports Commission had been so reduced, Westerberg explained, that leasing the land was seen as a means of raising needed funding.

He admitted a mistake had been made.

ìThe words should have gone through the proper channels,î he said.

For a time, it seemed the fuss over the Minnesota Amateur Sports Commission language might delay a bill already delayed almost a year.

Senate Capital Investment Chairman Sen. Keith Langseth, DFL-Glyndon, refused to take the bonding bill back into conference committee ñ it would unravel there, he said.

Besides, they had a deal with the House.

ìI tell you when youíve got a deal ñ when you pass it (the bonding bill) out of committee ñ youíve got a deal,î he said. After a House Republican caucus, the House again took up the bonding bill.

Rep. Dennis Ozment, R-Rosemount, motioned to suspend House rules to allow the bonding bill, the Minnesota Amateur Sports Commission language and all, pass the body.

ìLetís take this bird in hand and get the job done,î he said.

Ozmentís motion passed the House on a 95 to 36 vote ñ the bonding bill later passed by a bigger margin. Later in the evening, the Senate also passed the bonding bill.

Some highlights of the bill include:
ï$10 million for Anoka-Ramsey Community College at Cambridge to renovate the main campus building for a science laboratory and academic support center.

ï$7 million for Dakota Technical College for a telecommunications center of excellence, library and academic support center improvements.

ï$6 million for Inver Hills Community College for a college center building.

ï$24 million for Minnesota Zoo for the Gateway to the North exhibit, asset preservation, debt forgiveness.

ï$38 million for the Northstar Commuter Rail line.

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