MINNEAPOLIS – Governor Tim Walz unveiled a plan to borrow a record $2.7 billion to maintain state facilities statewide and build new ones. These are projects, he said, that will create jobs over the coming two years. Walz noted that interest rates are currently low, around 4%. The state, he said, is attractive to lenders for its AAA credit rating. Also, with a state revenue surplus projected, Minnesota can afford “a big package,” he said. The Walz proposal, which goes to the Legislature, is roughly a third more than the $1.9 billion bonding package approved by the Legislature two years ago for the current biennium. Walz unveiled his plan at a news conference outside the University of Minnesota’s updated Institute of Child Development — a $1.9 billion package approved by the 2020 Legislature. Pointing to the structure, Walz said: “This is your property. These are assets that belong to the people of Minnesota.”
Institute of Child Development. An example, says Walz, of a capital asset of which the people of Minnesota can be proud.
Breaking down the Walz “dream list”
> $120 billion, 38% of his proposal, would preserve and maintain existing sgate properties
> $560 million, 21% , would go to new public infrastructure projects, including $120 million for bridge replacements, $90 million for local road improvements, and $200 million for water infrastructure.
> $450 million, 16%, would be for housing, including projects to combat homelessness.
> $262 million, 10%, for the environment, including $190 million for climate change projects.
> $100 million for projects aimed at communities of color that have been left out of previous bonding bills.
Where funds come from
> $2 billion in general obligation bonds, which require a three-fifths majority in each chamber of the Legislature.
> $730 million from other sources, including $276 million in cash from the projected $7.7 billion state revenue surplus.