Committee update - Minnesota State Legislature

cal college for the title to the former
Bemidji high school. The House bill
specifies that the Board of Trustees must
not convey the technical college to the
school district. Construction costs for
the proposed lab building were estimated
to total $8 million. The Senate
version also specifies that the money be
used to demolish buildings and relocate
the athletic fields. Leppik said there
had been a decline in enrollment and
that she saw no reason to tear down the
high school building, which could be
purchased and remodeled. In response
to questions concerning the efficiencies
related to locating the building at a
different site from the main campus,
Leppik said the campuses are “only
three miles apart.” Sen. Keith Langseth
(DFL-Glyndon) said, “We’ve got to
decide whether we’re going to do things
on the cheap or plan well and look into
the future.” He also said increases in
enrollment are dependent upon the
availability of technology-related
programs.
A representative of St. Cloud
Technical College said he wanted to
address safety issues involving three 70year-old
buildings. Berglin said it was
necessary to prioritize projects due to
cost restrictions. Members discussed
the possibility of appropriating for
remodeling only the first two floors of
Lawrence Hall, specified as a priority,
and leaving the rest for a later date.
Other projects at the St. Cloud Campus
include the renovation and design of
Riverview Hall and Eastman Hall.
Don Sotello, representing Rochester
Community and Technical College, said
the construction of a $1.6 million
campus road system is a priority project.
Two-thirds of the road project must be
paid for by the city of Rochester, with
the remainder paid by MNSCU. Sotello
said that the design of an athletic sports
center was funded by the 1998 Legislature.
The House bill appropriates a
total of $6.15 million, including $4.5
million for the design and construction
of a greenhouse. The Senate bill
appropriates $1 for the construction of
an internal road system, the replacement
of athletic fields and to begin
construction of a quadrangle and
appropriated an additional $1.3 million
for the design and construction of a
greenhouse.
Members discussed a Moorhead State
University proposal requesting authority
to lease state property, including
state bond financed property, to a
private developer for the construction
of a student residence hall. Berglin said
the Attorney General’s Office determined
that the state could not lease
state land acquired with bond proceeds
for more than a period of twenty years.
The Senate bill appropriates $5.7
million for the construction of a science
building, demolition, and the construction
of parking facilities, including $1.6
million for the design to remodel Hagen
Hall. The House bill provides language
for the construction of a campus
security building but does not provide
an appropriation.
A representative of the Minnesota
West Community and Technical
College said projects for the campus
were ranked fifth place on the MNSCU
priority list. He said the campus is the
most diverse in the system, with a 34
percent enrollment by persons-of-color–
and located in an area having the
greatest concentration of poverty. The
Senate bill appropriates $11.7 million
for the construction of a library, an
information technology center and for
the remodeling of the Helland Center.
The House bill makes no appropriation
for this campus.
Also in need of a new library, The
Metropolitan State University was
appropriated money contingent upon $3
million in nonstate money for the
project, according to the Senate bill. In
addition, the Senate appropriated $1.4
million to remodel existing space as part
of a plan to co-locate the campus, which
presently uses mostly leased facilities.
The House bill does not make appropriations
for the campus.
Bonding bill testimony heard
The omnibus bonding conference
committee, chaired by Sen. Linda
Berglin (DFL-Mpls.) and Rep. Jim
Knoblach (R-St. Cloud), met Fri., Apr. 7
to hear testimony from several witnesses.
U.S. Representative David
Minge (DFL-Second District), participated
in the committee’s discussion of
the Conservation Reserve Enhancement
Program (CREP) via speaker phone.
Both Senate and House bonding bills
appropriated $20 million for CREP,
although language in the bills differed.
The House bill specifies that the state
acquire conservation easements on
private land as part of the CREP
agreement between the state and the
U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. The Senate
version specifies that the easements be
acquired and that conservation practices
be implemented on frequently
flooded cropland, including land within
the 100-year floodplain and the major
tributaries. The Senate bill also specifies
that conservation practices be
implemented on marginal cropland
along rivers and streams and on drained
or altered wetlands in the Minnesota
River Basin to protect soil, enhance
water quality and support fish and
wildlife habitat.
Minge said the state match for federal
CREP funding “needs to be in place.”
He referred to updates from the Department
of Agriculture which indicated
that federal funds were available for this
year and for one half of 2001, but that
the program may not extend beyond
2002, when the federal agriculture bill
expires. According to Minge, factors
determining further funding of the
program depend upon future leadership
priorities. Under current law, federal
appropriations limit the state to a setaside
of 100,000 acres. For Minnesota,
$60 to $70 million of matching federal
dollars is available. Minge said that
most other states are not approved for
federal funding under the program and
that Minnesota should not miss the
opportunity currently provided, especially
considering the significant farmrelated
pollution occurring in waterways.
Following Minge’s testimony, members
heard from a representative of the
Library Association, who said that 40
percent of Minnesota’s libraries are not
handicap-accessible. The House bill did
not provide for accessibility grants for
libraries. The Senate bill increases the
dollar limit on library access grants
provided by law from $150,000 to $1
million. Members discussed grants
award criteria, including across-theboard
funding and determinations based
on a sliding-fee basis. Berglin asked for
funding recommendations and emphasized
that library needs have changed
due to new information technology.
Sen. Keith Langseth (DFL-Glyndon)
said that the needs of rural areas have
changed partly due to an influx of
immigrants from other cultures. He said
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