The Highs & Lows Of The 2018 Legislative Session

Now that Governor Mark Dayton has signed the 2018 bonding bill, legislators are taking a victory lap.

Shaking hands and sharing words of thanks are what legislators are doing while making their rounds after Governor Dayton signed a $1.5 billion public works construction bill. Local lawmakers stopped at Bemidji State University where $22.5 million in bonding was approved for the Hagg-Sauer Hall project.

For a project that has been in the works for the past five years, local legislators are saying that the demolition and construction of a new Hagg-Sauer Hall is one of their biggest accomplishments.

While bonding for state projects was a success, the governor’s veto of the tax bill among others was a disappointment.

The tax bill wasn’t the only disappointment, as frustration over the Republican-led Senate Judiciary Committee’s block of tougher sex crime and child pornography laws remains unfinished business.

Now that session is over, focus for House Representatives Matt Grossell and Matt Bliss turns to the campaign trail, where they are hoping to pick up where they left off.

Other projects that were approved in the bonding bill include $12.5 million in funding for a Bemidji veterans home and $14 million for an elementary school in Red Lake.