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Governor Uses Line-Item Veto Authority to Slice Projects from Bonding Bill

In all, Gov. Pawlenty made 52 cuts and reduced the price tag on the bill from $999 million to $680 million.
(Published Mar 17, 2010)

Gov. Pawlenty’s office issued a letter on March 15 announcing that the governor had signed the capital investment (bonding) bill, HF 2700, but that he had stripped more than $300 million in projects from the bill using his line-item veto authority.

The bill’s authors, Rep. Alice Hausman (DFL-St. Paul) and Sen. Keith Langseth (DFL-Glyndon), expressed deep disappointment, noting they had included the governor’s priority projects in the package in the spirit of compromise.

The bill includes $36 million to expand the sex offender treatment facility at Moose Lake. This was one of the governor's priorities, but the money appropriated is much less than he requested.

Governor's cuts
Below are some of the funds the governor eliminated from the bill:

  • $10 million from two University of Minnesota projects.
  • $134 million that would have funded 16 Minnesota State Colleges and Universities projects.
  • $750,000 to renovate the Coon Rapids Dam.
  • $1 million for campground expansion in the City of Two Harbors.
  • $25 million for Reinvest in Minnesota Conservation Reserve.
  • $1 million for grants to local units of government to construct or renovate cooperative local facilities.
  • $3.5 million for the Northwestern Minnesota Regional Sports Center in Moorhead.
  • $3 million for a regional fire safety training center in Maplewood.
  • $2 million for a new public safety building in Princeton.
  • $2.5 million for greater Minnesota Transit.
  • $3 million for port development assistance.
  • $3.7 million for the Range Regional Airport.
  • $6.5 million for an addition to the Department of Transportation training center in Arden Hills.
  • $1 million for the Hoffman Interlocking Rail Yard in St. Paul.
  • $43.5 million for the Metropolitan Council’s Transit Capital Improvement Program.
  • $2 million for the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden.
  • $1.1 million for Phalen-Keller Regional Park.
  • $2 million for Springborrk Nature Center.
  • $1 million for Theodore Wirth Winter Recreations Center.
  • $2 million for Early Childhood Learning and Child Protection Facilities.
  • $475,000 for the Headwaters Science Center in Bemidji.
  • $2.2 million for renovation of the Potter Memorial Auditorium in Chatfield.
  • $12 million for the Mankato Civic Center auditorium.
  • $28 million for renovation and expansion of the Mayo Civic Center Complex in Rochester.
  • $13 million for expansion of the St. Cloud Civic Center.
  • $5 million for the Asian-Pacific Cultural Center in St. Paul.
  • $10 million to the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency.
  • $9.357 million to the Historical Society for renovation of the Oliver H. Kelly Farm.

The authors of the bill do not expect attempts to override any of the vetoes.

Previous bill revised before reaching governor
An earlier version of the bill, which was passed by both bodies, was pulled back after the governor said he would veto it because of its size and priorities. Legislative leaders returned the bill to the Senate, rather than send it to the governor’s desk.

The Legislature approved a revised package that brought the bill’s price tag total down slightly and contains the six core projects identified by the governor. However, the overall cost of the bill still exceeded the governor’s $725 million limit. Representatives of the governor said he might be willing to raise the cap if his priority projects were included in the package.

While there is $36 million to expand the sex offender treatment facility at Moose Lake, it less than the $89.07 million that Gov. Pawlenty requested. Conferees were told $61 million would provide the needed infrastructure. The original conference committee report had no money for the expansion.

View the governor’s veto letter, which contains a list of the vetoed projects (pdf)

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