Dayton To Unveil Construction Project Wish List

ST. PAUL  (AP) -- Gov. Mark Dayton is expected to call for about $1 billion in public works projects on Monday.

The Democratic governor will unveil his recommendations for state-backed construction work at a morning news conference.

It's traditional for the Minnesota Legislature to pass large bonding bills in even-numbered years, but Dayton has said he hopes to grab low interest rates and inject some money into the ailing construction sector this year.

He has vowed to identify about $500 million worth of his priorities and leave the rest of the money for lawmakers to put forward theirs.

St. Cloud area leaders are hoping two local projects make the list:  money for a parking ramp in downtown St. Cloud and also money to build a new science lab at St. Cloud State University.

Republican House Majority Leader Matt Dean isn't ruling out a bonding bill this year. But he says the GOP focus will be on rerouting unspent money from past projects that never got off the
ground.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)