Mar 12, 2008 1:57 pm US/Central
Minn. Borrowing Plan Hung Up By Price Tag
ST. PAUL (AP) ―
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Gov. Tim Pawlenty is insisting that the cost be kept below $825 million.
CBS
Negotiations at the state Capitol over a long-term borrowing plan for publicly financed construction projects are hung up over the total price tag.
But key lawmakers said Wednesday they hope to resolve their differences and have a bill signed by Gov. Tim Pawlenty before their Easter break next week.
The bill authorizes bond sales for new construction and repair work at colleges, zoos, prisons, wastewater treatment plants, state parks and regional convention centers.
Pawlenty is insisting that the cost be kept below $825 million, which would allow the state to continue its tradition of keeping principal and interest payments to no more than 3 percent of the state's general fund.
The lead Senate negotiator, DFLer Keith Langseth of Glyndon, said he's offered to drop the price of state borrowing in his bill to $925 million from $965 million.
"We're just going to lose a lot of votes" if the bill shrinks much more, he said.
The bonding bill requires three-fifths majorities in each chamber to pass -- 42 votes in the Senate and 81 in the House.
Rep. Alice Hausman, DFL-St. Paul, said she's trying to scale back the final bill even more to avoid a gubernatorial veto.
Pawlenty has the power to cut the size of the bill on his own, through his line-item veto power. But Hausman said the governor has firmly told her he would strike the entire bill down rather than trimming it here and there. His bonding bill veto last year still weighs on Hausman.
"To me, failure is not an option a second year in a row," she said.
(© 2010 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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