It is predictable that legislators from rural Minnesota are not going to like certain aspects of this approach. If one looks at who comprises the leadership of both bodies of the Legislature, it is plain that rural Minnesota is doing okay, especially the northern part of the state. Outstate legislators are not going to like a strategy designed to close their institutions. Such legislators can agree with some of the report's conclusions, but they will not like the idea of putting some of Minnesota's rural institutions on a starvation diet. Bonding Tradition has it that the big bonding bills occur in the even-numbered years and 1996 will be no exception.
Interest rates are low just now and there is an election fast approaching.
The large state surplus means additional dollars are available to pay the debt service on a bigger bonding bill. The rule of thumb is that the amount dedicated to servicing debt may not exceed three percent of the state's biennial revenues. The Governor surprised almost everyone a week ago by proposing a relatively large bonding bill. The board's reasoning is that it is unfair to force students to pay a significant share of the debt on a building that is a regional and statewide resource. Missing from the Governor's list are many important projects that were skipped over to get to the St. Cloud library.