With committee work done, the House capital investment bill will reach the floor this coming Monday for a full vote. Included in the bill is $28 million for the Mayo Civic Center expansion. We’d like to thank the House for their support of this important economic development project. To read more, click here.

The House and Senate unveiled their capital investment bills last week. Both bills include money for the Mayo Civic Center Expansion. The House bill allocates $28 million, while the Senate bill, which passed the full Senate on Feb. 9, includes $34 million for the project. A great thanks goes to the two bonding committee chairs, Rep. [...]

State Sen. Ann Lynch (DFL-Rochester) authored a guest column in the Rochester Post-Bulletin supporting the need for a substantial bonding bill to put Minnesotans back to work. Among the many projects that will provide jobs, Sen. Lynch pointed out that the Mayo Civic Center expansion will have a significant impact on the regional economy and [...]

The Rochester Post-Bulletin offered its analysis of Governor Pawlenty’s recent bonding bill proposal, noting that the Mayo Civic Center expansion project and its economic impact still merits inclusion in the legislature’s bill and a final signature from the governor.

Rochester Mayor Ardell Brede issued the following statement regarding Governor Pawlenty’s bonding bill proposal, releaseed today, which did not include the Mayo Civic Center expansion.

The Rochester Post-Bulletin reported this week that Rep. Alice Hausman, DFL-St. Paul, chairwoman of the House Capital Investment Finance Division committee, has voiced support of the Mayo Civic Center bonding request.

In today’s paper, the Star Tribune editorial board weighed in favorably on expediting the 2010 bonding bill. Bonding bills, the editorial says, are proven to spur economic growth during a recession and put Minnesotans back to work.

Citing the need to create jobs and strengthen both the local and state economies, Sen. Ann Lynch (DFL-Rochester) urged Post-Bulletin readers to support area capital investment projects, including the Mayo Civic Center Expansion.

DFL gubernatorial candidates met in Rochester last week to discuss their views with local voters. One candidate, Speaker of the House Margaret Anderson Kelliher (DFL-Minneapolis), noted the importance of job creation and a solid bonding bill this upcoming session, specifically citing the Mayo Civic Center expansion as a worthy project. Read more here.

In today’s issue, the Rochester Post-Bulletin editorial board congratulated the Rochester City Council for “taking matters into its own hands” by approving an increase in the city’s food, beverage and lodging taxes to help finance the Mayo Civic Center Expansion. “We’re convinced we’d finally have an event center that’s worthy of a first-class city,” writes the editorial board. The food, beverage and lodging tax increase will not go into effect unless the state legislature also approves bonding funds for the project. “We encourage our area legislators to do everything within their power to get this project to the finish line,” writes the editorial board.