House Rejects Capitol Restoration Bill By 1 Vote

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A $221 million plan to renovate the state Capitol failed by one vote Thursday in the Minnesota House despite pleas from project supporters, including a lawmaker who pleaded for repairs while holding up pieces of the building's crumbling exterior.

"We have small chunks of the Capitol falling off," Rep. Dean Urdahl, R-Grove City, told other lawmakers during a debate on the House floor before the vote. "And we can see them as we look out on the balconies."

House members voted 80-50 for the restoration, but it needed 81 votes to pass because it involves borrowing funds.

"Our beloved Capitol faces a crisis today," Urdahl said. "The cost to fix it is growing."

The Minnesota State Capitol Preservation Commission in January recommended a $241 million, four- or five-year overhaul to address the building's eroded exterior and outdated mechanical systems, among other issues. The Capitol restoration bonding bill would have allowed $60 million for the project every year from 2013 through 2015, and $41 million in 2016.

The bill is separate from the House's general $280 million bonding proposal to fund an array of construction projects across the state. Some Democrats objected to the restoration plan moving separately from the House's general bonding bill. They said the stand-alone restoration bill would tie up money for one building instead of allowing it to be used for several important projects.

Rep. Alice Hausman, DFL-St. Paul, said those funds are desperately needed for flood mitigation and for the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system.

"There is support for this restoration," Hausman said. "There are ways to do that and still not ignore the broader needs of the state."

But Rep. Larry Howes, R-Walker, who sponsors the bill and the general bonding proposal, said he split the measures to keep the restoration project from becoming political, with lawmakers vying for their pet projects within a larger bill.

"They wanted more money in their backyard," Howes said of Democrats who voted down his bill. "They were more concerned about what happens in their own city than what happens with the people's house. The reason I did it this way is so it wasn't a bartering contest."

Some Democrats said that the Capitol restoration could be funded in stages in order to free up more money in the meantime. Howes said that funding the project in one lump would keep costs as low as possible.

Funding only a portion of the project to hire architects and engineers would soon mean that "you don't have any money left to put a hard hat on the job," Howes said. "By committing, we're actually going to get a guaranteed price."

According to the commission's report, the Capitol has reached a "tipping point" and will need some fixes in the next one to two years or it will require constant maintenance into the future. Most urgent, experts say, is the building's disintegrating marble exterior, which in some places is so weak that pieces have been pulled off by hand.

The commission advised updates to the Capitol's tangled electrical wiring and outdated mechanical and plumbing systems. The plan also included restoration to historic lighting and paintwork, and interior rearrangements to make meeting rooms, offices and public spaces more efficient.

Minnesota's Capitol, built in 1905, is one of just a few its age that hasn't undergone a full-scale renovation, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Repairs to the building have been piecemeal, and several past restoration initiatives never fully took off.

The Capitol restoration project is a priority of Gov. Mark Dayton, who sits on the commission. He has said he wants a stand-alone bonding proposal to fund the entire project, but never said if he'd support Howes' proposal, which was $20 million less than the initial recommendation.

The House proposal had opposition in the Senate, which doesn't have a separate bonding bill for the Capitol but included $25 million for repairs in its larger state bonding bill. Senate Majority Leader David Senjem, R-Rochester, also a commission member, has said the building's exterior is most important and smaller interior fixes should be done as needed.

Howes said he was let down by Democrats who promised they'd support the project. He said the outlook for his general bonding bill is now less certain as the session wanes.

"Any time you have someone's word that they'll give votes, it affects how I look at the next project," Howes said. "How do I know I'll get the votes for that?"

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