(St. Paul, MN) — Governor Tim Walz this afternoon (2pm) unveils his infrastructure funding proposal for the 2024 legislative session that begins in just under a month.
The governor could propose to pay for infrastructure projects either with traditional bonding, where the state borrows the money, or by using part of the budget surplus, or a combination of the two.
The surplus is currently forecast at 2.4 billion dollars, but any of it that’s spent now might contribute to a budget deficit in 2026-27.
Democrats need Republicans’ help to pass a bonding or borrowing bill.
Some D-F-L lawmakers have been tossing around figures in the range of one-and-a-half billion dollars for an infrastructure package using bonding plus part of the projected surplus.