Those left out of bonding consideration say politics is to blame

Rochester and St. Cloud both get money for convention center projects. But, as the Pioneer Press points out, St. Paul’s pitch for a new Saints baseball stadium sunk. The Free Press reports Mankato legislators are ‘aghast’ and ‘stunned’ that their city got no consideration in the bonding bill.

It it because Rochester and St. Cloud have Republican representation and St. Paul and Mankato have only Democrats in their corners? No surprise, DFLers say the Republican majority’s construction spending plan is transparent politics, while Republicans have perfectly reasonable explanations for how things were distributed. Either way, Forum Communications explains how now the path is clear for three-way talks to resolve differences between the House, Senate and governor’s spending plans.

One project managed to cut through the politics. The Star Tribune examines the effort for a $2 million renovation for the Minneapolis Phillips Neighborhood community pool, which was included in all three proposals.