Gov. Dayton Visits Moorhead, Urges Legislature to Finish Work, Invest in Better Minnesota

Gov. Mark Dayton will be visiting Moorhead and Worthington today, calling on legislators to finish their work and make critical investments in a Better Minnesota.

Dayton will visit Minnesota State University Moorhead and the Lewis and Clark water project in Worthington, urging legislators to compromise on terms for a Special Session. Since June 1, 2016, Dayton has been calling on legislative leaders to compromise on needed investments in higher education, job creation, and public safety. Essential investments in Moorhead and Worthington area projects were among many left unfinished during this year’s Regular Session.

A news conference will be held today at 9:30 a.m. on the South side of Owens Hall.

MSUM President Anne Blackhurst will speak at the news conference with Dayton today.

“I would like to thank Governor Dayton and our local legislators for their support of the bonding request and the supplemental budget,” said Blackhurst. “Staying ahead on infrastructure repairs to the bricks and mortar of a university is an ongoing process.  If you neglect these efforts for even one year, both the scale of the task and the cost of the task intensifies, while the quality of our student’s educational experience is diminished.

“At MSU Moorhead, we have $670,800 in high priority Higher Education Asset Preservation and Restoration (HEAPR) projects and another $1 million in supplemental funding at stake.  I truly hope that the Governor and legislative leadership will agree to reconvene and pass these important bills.”

As of now, House Speaker Kurt Daudt, Senate Minority Leader David Hann, and their respective Caucuses have been resistant to making those urgently-needed investments.

“It is time now for the Legislature to come back to St. Paul and finish their work,” said Dayton. “Minnesotans deserve better college classrooms, clean water infrastructure, tax cuts for 650,000 people, and thousands of jobs from comprehensive bonding and transportation bills.