House Bonding Committee Stop in St. Cloud Metro Area

ST. CLOUD (WJON News) -- The Minnesota House Capital Investment Committee is touring central Minnesota Wednesday looking at projects for which local governments are seeking state money dollars.

Stops in the St. Cloud Metro area include The Ledge Amphitheater in Waite Park, the St. Cloud CentraCare Medical Campus and the future medical school, downtown St. Cloud which is seeking $100 million, they'll also hear pitches from the St. Cloud Technical and Community College, St. Cloud State University, St. Augusta for their water system improvements, and the youth homeless shelter called 180 Degrees.

Committee Chair Democrat Fue Lee from Minneapolis says the statewide preliminary requests are for about $7.3 billion worth of projects. He says they'll have a better idea of how big the bonding bill will be after the November forecast comes out and they know if there is a budget surplus and what the state's bonding capacity is.

The 2024 State Legislative session starts in mid to late February.

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During the 2023 session, the Minnesota State Legislature passed a $2.6 billion bonding bill, the largest in the state's history. Local projects that received funding this past session included $7 million for the Great River Children's Museum, $5 million for the St. Cloud Medical School, $3.9 million for the St. Cloud Regional Airport, $2.5 million for The Ledge Amphitheater, $7.5 million for Town Line Road, $2.5 million for flood mitigation in Sartell, $1.2 million for lift stations in Rockville.