Rochester leaders disappointed by House GOP's decision to hold bonding bill 'hostage'

As millions of dollars in public money earmarked for the Rochester area languishes in legislative limbo as part of a political skirmish over executive power, local representatives on both sides of the aisle say they do not support putting politics over high-priority infrastructure projects. 

Minnesota’s infrastructure bonding bill failed in the state House of Representatives for the third time in as many months on Monday. House Republicans, led by House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt (R-Crown), refused to give the necessary support to pass the bonding bill, as long as Gov. Tim Walz holds emergency powers in response to Covid-19. 

While Rep. Daudt says the House will try to strike a deal again in three weeks’ time, Rochester DFL State Rep. Tina Liebling said she believes the effort will be for naught.

“I think Republicans in the House have basically killed the bill, and it’s dead — that would be my understanding,” said Liebling. 

In the meantime, $1.8 billion in funding for statewide infrastructure projects sits on the table. On the local level, the bill includes $11.4 million in ‘urgent’ and ‘necessary’ runway renovations for Rochester International Airport, $7.9 million to build an interchange at Highway 14 and County Road 104, and $2.6 million for continued development of Cascade Lake.

Rep. Liebling said the airport renovation project, estimated at $79.2 million in total cost, is the most urgent project of all local projects included in the bill — from a safety and economic standpoint.

“I took a tour of the runway. I saw the chunks of concrete on that runway,” said Liebling. “This is a big issue for us locally, to have this airport fully functional.”

Despite previously voting to strip the governor of his emergency powers, State Sen. Carla Nelson (R-Rochester) said she was, too, disappointed in the bill’s failure, and took a stance against her GOP counterparts in the House blocking the bill from moving to her chamber. 

She said the move was akin to a stance some DFL legislators took in prior weeks, tying the bonding bill together with support for a bill on police reform. 

“Quite frankly, I do not support that [tactic],” said Nelson. “I do not support hostage-taking on bills. You need to vote for each bill, and you don’t not vote for one bill if another doesn’t pass.”

(The legislature eventually passed measures on police reform in Minnesota — more on that below.)

Elected officials on the local level were also baffled with the situation, with Mayor Kim Norton and council member Michael Wojcik each tweeting their displeasure with the proceedings. 

Additionally, the Olmsted County Board of Commissioners touched on the situation in their meeting on Tuesday. Speaking to the board, Steve Novak, a legislative liaison for the Minnesota Inter-County Association, said he found the impasse "a little hard to believe," after Republican and Democratic leaders in the Senate voiced their approval for the bill. (Bonding bills are unique in that they require 60 percent of votes to pass each chamber, meaning Democrats in the House need Republican support to pass a bill, while Republicans in the Senate need Democratic support.)

“It is getting difficult to see a path out of this, at this point," said Novak, noting that around half of the bonding bill’s projects were set to break ground in GOP-led districts.

“It just appears like political suicide if they continue on this path without getting this done," added commissioner Ken Brown.

It is likely Gov. Walz will call another special legislative session in August to further renew his emergency powers, meaning discussion on the bonding bill will continue in some capacity. While some officials remain skeptical of a breakthrough, Sen. Nelson holds a more optimistic view.

“My sincere hope, and I do believe, if there is a will, we get a bonding bill on August 13,” said Nelson. “The longer we wait, the more expensive these projects become.” 

Legislators applaud police reform bill

Both chambers were able to come together to pass bipartisan legislation on statewide police reform over the special session, which both Rep. Liebling and Sen. Nelson heralded as a major accomplishment for the special session.

“I wouldn’t even call it a compromise — I believe it was something everyone agrees on,” said Nelson.

Rep. Liebling noted she wanted to see more from the legislation — most notably, handing over control of criminal cases of police violence to the state Attorney General’s office, which was discussed but not included in the final bill — but agreed with everything included in the end product.

“I think there is much more we can do,” said Liebling, “but I was happy that we got to a place where we could actually do something and get started.” 

The bill, which passed through the Senate early Tuesday morning, bans all police departments from using chokeholds and neck restraints. Additionally, the bill requires added crisis intervention and cultural bias training, while creating incentives for officers to live in the communities they work in. 

Back home, Rochester police said Tuesday that, with the exception of the residency incentive program, the department is already in compliance with the “majority of reforms” outlined in the bill.

Education Resolution

Sen. Nelson made waves earlier in the week, after bringing a non-binding resolution to the Senate floor urging the governor to exempt public school districts from future executive orders. The resolution passed 37-30.

While the House decided not to bring the resolution to the floor, Rep. Liebling noted she believed in letting districts have some autonomy in their decision-making — just not total autonomy.

“It can’t just be that the districts decide everything,” said Liebling. “This is a pandemic, and there are no walls around school districts. If there are people sick in one district, they’ll be sick in the next one. I think there should be a hybrid here, letting some local decisions be made but looking to state guidance first and foremost.”

Sen. Nelson said a ‘one-size-fits-all’ plan would not be a proper solution. Under her plan, districts should look to the Minnesota Department of Health for guidance on how best to safely re-open, but would ultimately hold the final decision on how best to proceed with the school year.

“The point of the resolution is ‘who can best make that decision?,’” said Nelson. “We have 300 school districts, a hundred charter schools, 2,000 school buildings in the state, and to think that one person or one group of people would be able to come up with what is the best way to educate our kids safely in a time of pandemic — it’s just humanly impossible.”

Isaac Jahns is a Rochester native and a 2019 graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism. He reports on politics, business and music for Med City Beat.

Cover photo: Rep. Liebling (left) and Sen. Nelson