(Belle Plaine, MN) -- A Minnesota Senate panel has a busy day (Tuesday) hearing from projects vying for state bonding dollars. Stops include Belle Plaine, Mankato, Fairmont, Welcome, Sherburn and Jackson. Senate Capital Investment Committee chairman Tom Bakk (BOCK) from Cook predicts a number of projects across Minnesota will ask for more money than the legislature authorized earlier, because of "very serious inflation" in construction costs. Key House Democrats are talking about a bonding bill the size of 2019's record-breaking one-point-nine-billion dollars. Bakk says he certainly doesn't have any objections if the legislature can get to that number -- but some of it will have to be additional money for already-approved projects because of inflation.

(Pipestone, MN) -- Minnesota House lawmakers are in Pipestone, Luverne, Worthington, Butterfield, Welcome, Fairmont and Mankato today (Wednesday), hearing pitches for state bonding dollars for public works projects. Capital Investment committee chairman Representative Fue (FOO) Lee of Minneapolis says the latest budget forecast allows the state to bond for just over three-point-three-billion dollars. Lee says he'll be doing his part to push for a robust bonding bill. He hopes to get to a level similar to what we were able to get done in the October 2020 bonding bill. That was a record one-point-nine-billion dollars. Lawmakers debate a bonding bill during the legislative session in January.