By Jason Schoonover and Sam Wilmes

Rep. Jeanne Poppe, DFL-Austin, doesn’t think an $800 million House bonding proposal unveiled Wednesday is likely to pass.

“The bill is a bill that’s very partisan and not likely to pass,” Poppe said, referring to the Republican-controlled House.

The bonding bill includes $7.4 million Riverland Community College request to relocate truck driving and collision programs from Austin to Albert Lea, it doesn’t include the proposed projects to redevelop the Ramsey or Fourth Avenue Northeast dams in Austin.

Funding for Austin waterways projects was not included in the bill. The Senate recommended $600,000 to Austin for the Fourth Avenue Northeast Dam area for flood control retaining walls, restoring the former mill site, for stream bank restorations and to study dam conditions, but a $3 million proposal for the Ramsey Dam area and Ramsey Mill Pond was left off both bills.

Looking ahead, Poppe is still hopeful the state can pass a bonding bill closer to $1 billion that will be more balanced for the needs of the state.

“There’s hope to still have some of the Austin waterway projects in there, but at this point, this isn’t the bill that does that,” she said.

The House bill includes the potential for some help for Austin’s wastewater treatment plant, as it includes about $70 million for water infrastructure, about $18.5 million for drinking water and $51.5 for wastewater.

The Senate included $80 million.

At Riverland, the plan is to integrate programs into shared spaces with auto service and diesel programs.

Riverland President Adenuga Atewologun said the project is critical to helping the area’s workforce shortage and attracting students.

He said the project should help truck companies, noting truck company officials have told him they have had a hard time hiring enough truck drivers.

The project will also help increase the college’s efficiency, he said, noting he is hopeful the project will be funded in the Legislature’s final bonding bill. He plans to continue discussing the need for the project to legislators.

District 27A Rep. Peggy Bennett, R-Albert Lea, said she is excited about the inclusion of the Riverland project in the bill, noting education is “near and dear” to her heart.

She said the project would better serve students and the region by utilizing space the college already has and combining some areas. She said she thinks “it’s good on a number of fronts.”

She said it is good for students who are looking to be educated and good for the region to attract workers to alleviate its workforce shortage.

‘This bill fails miserably’

Democrats, who have proposed more than $1 billion in public construction projects, have been calling on House Republicans to release the details of their proposal since the Legislature must adjourn by Monday.

The total is larger than the $600 million that Republicans had previously suggested they would put forward, but it’s not clear that the extra money is enough to get crucial Democratic support. The final price tag will be part of negotiations between legislative leaders.

“It’s been my goal since the start of session to put together a bonding proposal that all sides can vote for, and this bill does just that,” House Speaker Kurt Daudt said in a statement.

But House Democrats criticized the proposal, which requires a supermajority of lawmakers in each chamber to pass.

Rep. Tina Liebing, a Democrat whose home city of Rochester didn’t receive any funding in the House proposal, said the bill “pits areas of the state against each other.”

“This is one bill where people need to come together to do what’s best for the whole state, and this bill fails miserably on that measure,” she said.

Looking ahead

Bennett said she thinks the House will take a vote on the bill by the end of this week, noting it is lower than the Senate’s $1.5 billion bonding proposal and Gov. Mark Dayton’s $1.4 billion proposal.

The House proposal includes $227 million for local road and bridge projects, $130 million for water infrastructure construction — such as wastewater and drinking water projects — and $137 million for higher education.

Poppe said the House doesn’t meet needs throughout the state, and she noted many projects designated to receive funds are in Republican-leaning districts. She noted some higher education inclusions include projects that don’t meet the criteria to be on the Minnesota State College and Universities budget, and she added it doesn’t do enough for asset preservation and repair programs.

Looking ahead, Poppe expects talks over a transportation bill will likely be dropped as Republicans and Democrats are too far apart to come to an agreement.

“There’s just too many big issues that are getting in the way of getting something done there,” she said.

However, Poppe hopeful the state can then come to terms on a bipartisan tax bill, which she hopes will pave the way for a larger bonding bill than the house proposal.

“We’ll see what happens in the end, but I think there’s still hope to have a bonding bill that does what it needs to do,” Poppe said.

Poppe expects the Legislature to work into Saturday and Sunday to finish up business for this session.

The development of Albert Lea’s Blazing Star Landing and development of Bent Tree Trail were not included in the proposed bonding bill.

—The Associated Press contributed to this report.