No, No, Yes, No, Yes, No ...
That’s the best-case scenario for what state Rep. Alice Hausman and her House bonding committee will be doing sometime in late March or April as they pare down the list of proposed construction projects around the state.
A more likely scenario might involve adding a third “No” for every “Yes.”
“We will get somewhere between $3 billion and $4 billion in requests,” said Hausman, a St. Paul Democrat and chairwoman of the Capital Investment Committee. “And we’ll probably do just less than a billion.”
If the ratio holds for the Mankato area, there’d just be one project approved from the four Hausman and her committee visited Thursday morning and early afternoon.
There was a final pitch at Minnesota State Mankato, which is seeking $1.9 million in design funding for a new building for its nursing, dental hygiene and speech and hearing departments.
Lawmakers will likely favor a bill of around $1 billion, and Pawlenty suggested he will propose a smaller bill, Hausman said. But a substantial borrowing bill to invest in statewide infrastructure seems to be a joint goal.
Hausman said the MSU proposal has a chance despite receiving a low ranking by the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Board of Trustees. The design money, which would be followed by requests in future years for $35 million in construction funding, is 25th on the MnSCU board’s priority list.
MSU representatives ranging from President Richard Davenport to dental hygiene students made their case for the new three-story building, which would consolidate related programs scattered around the campus and create the classroom and lab space needed for a growing number of students.
A looming shortage of nurses and other health professionals by 2017 was a key part of the sales pitch.
“That’s where our real market need is,” Davenport said. “That’s where we put our money, and we hope it’s where you put your money, too.”
Read the complete Free Press story at http://www.mankatofreepress.com/local/local_story_295223253.html?start:int=0
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