Sen. John Hoffman (SD36) Update: May 26, 2018

Hello neighbors and friends and welcome to the final weekly session update for the 2018 legislative session.

I hope this finds you preparing for a safe, enjoyable and meaningful Memorial Day weekend with family and friends. I look forward to participating in events this weekend memorializing those men and women who gave their lives for our nation. As we all pause our busy lives, let us also honor those who have served and thank those wearing the uniforms of our military today.

I want to highlight some important bills that I was able to be part of and helped usher through the Sine Die on Monday Morning. During the legislative biennium the even year in a biennium is generally when a majority of bonding proposals are vetted and possibly included in the final bill that is passed by the legislature and signed by the Governor. The initial Bonding bill issued $825 million in General Obligation bonds which is nearly identical to the House proposal but significantly less than Governor Dayton’s proposal, which allocated $1.456 billion.

While the House was able to pass its bonding proposal, the Senate failed to secure the required votes to pass earlier in the week thus failed to send it to conference committee. Senate DFLers did offer an amendment that built on the Senate Republican proposal, and more adequately funded the priorities of the state especially at it relates to preserving previous investments in roads, transit, higher education, and our natural resource infrastructure assets.This amendment did not pass.

During the final night of session and in collaborative bi partisan discussion, we came to an agreement and ended up passing a different $825 million bonding package and added LCCMR and Corridors of commerce provisions increasing the overall investment.  I was honored to be part of this as it included additional projects that were overlooked in the first Senate attempt. Below you will see the projects in the Northwest Metro that made it into the final bonding package. We can be proud of the collaborative work on this bonding bill as our area definitely benefited from the do over.  I was honored to be part of this and grateful that we delivered for our North Metro communities.

Sincerely,

Senator John Hoffman

Local Bonding Projects that passed

Highway 169 and 101st Ave Interchange

$4 million was allocated for the Highway 169 and 101st interchange project. This project stayed in throughout major changes from the first bonding bill that was voted down to the final bonding bill that passed. I am the Chief author of this Bill in the Minnesota Senate.

The land surrounding the intersection of Highway 169 and 101st Avenue has the potential to develop up to 20,000 jobs and is currently home to Target’s Northern Campus and their roughly 4,000 employees.

The project will help prevent severe traffic congestion and public safety problems at Highway 169 and 109th Avenue North as well as Highway 610 and West Broadway Avenue.

Total cost for the interchange project is $32 million.

Ramsey Boulevard Rail Grade Separation

Senator Abeler, Senator Newton and I were authors of this bill and pleased that it was included in the final bonding bill, after the first bonding bill failed, $2 million will be allocated to get the project started. An additional $3 million is needed to complete the project. This project is a MNDOT priority rail grade separation due to its safety concerns. The boulevard is so busy with commuters and weekend travelers going up north, it frequently is congested with traffic backing up to highway 10.

Brockton Interchange

This interchange project will improve safety and emergency response, expand development opportunities (jobs), reduce congestion on I-94 interchanges, prevent future congestion on local arterial, and reduce travel costs with convenient access. $13.5 million was included in the final bonding after the first bill was voted down.

Thurston Boulevard Interchange

$15 million was allocated for improvements to the Hwy. 10 Thurston Boulevard Interchange in Anoka County.

This project would eliminate traffic signals at the Thurston avenue intersection. This project was requested by the city of Anoka and has the backing of the Anoka County Board.

This project was included in the final bonding bill but not the first one that failed.

Corridors of Commerce

The inclusion of $400 million in the bonding bill will directly effect us in the Northwest Metro, as this means the Highway 252 project is bumped up to the top of MNDOT’s priority list.

The Highway 252 project is a joint collaboration between Hennepin County, the Minnesota Department of Transportation and the cities of Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park and Minneapolis. They are developing solutions to lessen congestion and improve safety and reliability along Highway 252 between Highway 610 in Brooklyn Park and I-694 in Brooklyn Center and on I-94 from I-694 in Brooklyn Center to downtown Minneapolis. These solutions will be evaluated in an environmental process and then will move forward into preliminary design.

If you have any questions or concerns feel free to call my office at 651-296-4154 or by e-mail at jhoffman@senate.mn.