New Senate offices clear final legislative hurdle

Artist's rendering of a legislative office building proposed to be built just north of the Minnesota Capitol. It will house members of the Minnesota Senate. (Image courtesy of the State of Minnesota)

The new, slimmed-down Minnesota Senate office building project won the OK of the Senate Rules Committee on Monday, clearing the way for construction to potentially begin this summer.

Financing continues to be held up by an outstanding legal challenge, but Monday's approval was the last substantive authorization needed for the project.

"Once the lawsuit's resolved, the building will be ready for construction," said Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook.

He said he'd like construction to begin before July 1 to reduce the risk of disrupting the related Capitol renovation process.

Minority Republicans have criticized the project as wasteful and insufficiently vetted, and Monday's committee approval was on a partisan 8-5 vote -- Democratic-Farmer-Labor members in favor; Republicans opposed.

In January, the Senate Rules Committee had approved a plan that was attacked as too lavish.

On Friday, the House Rules Committee endorsed a revised plan that increased the space in order to house all 67 senators and their staff members instead of just 44.

But it reduced the overall cost, in part, by cutting an off-site parking ramp and making the on-site ramp user-financed.

The cost to taxpayers dropped from $94 million to $77 million. And it was that new plan that was approved by the Senate Rules Committee on Monday.

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New Senate offices clear final legislative hurdle