St. Cloud Civic Center - We're In the Governor's Bill!

Congratulations and Many Thanks!

Governor Pawlenty released details of the 2008 bonding bill earlier this afternoon and we are happy to report that $2 million for expansion of the St. Cloud Civic Center was included in the final bill!

Special thanks to Governor Pawlenty for inclusion of the St. Cloud Civic Center expansion. With local matching dollars, this project will get underway in the coming weeks, creating new jobs and immediate economic value to the entire region.

Our thanks also go out to the St. Cloud area Legislative delegation for their leadership in ensuring that this project continue to move forward. Countless hours were spent negotiating on behalf of the St. Cloud Civic Center!

And finally, many many thanks to the more than 200 grassroots volunteers, supporters, and local businesses. Your calls, emails, letters to the editor, and personal legislative visits kept this initiative front and center. You truly made a difference!! We can now break ground!!

The House and Senate have agreed to a bill that would spend $925 million and are working out differences in their positions. Each of the respective bills contain $2 million for expansion of the St. Cloud Civic Center and we remain hopeful that the Civic Center will be included in the final bill.

The total bonding amount is currently at $925 million and the Governor’s position remains the same at $825 million. We believe that the House and Senate will bring forth their latest version for the Governor’s signature within the next few days.

Civic Center now in both bills!

Dear Meet Your Match Volunteers,

Thank you for your continued efforts on the St. Cloud Civic Center expansion. In an unexpected, yet very positive move on Thursday morning, the Senate Finance Committee moved forward a new bonding bill for consideration. The new bill reduces the Senate’s bonding amount from $980 million to $925 million. The Governor’s position remains at $825m and while the two bills are still not together, they are moving closer.

Despite the financial reduction, the St. Cloud Civic Center expansion is now included in the Senate bill at $2 million. This is a very positive development for our efforts. As you recall, the original Senate bill did not include the Civic Center; however we are now in both the House and Senate Bills for equal dollar amounts. Private conversations continue among House and Senate leadership but for the most part public discussions on the bonding bills have been quiet today. We expect further action to take place next week.

All of this, of course, is very positive. However, we are still far from a final victory. We intend to continue to keep you up-to-date on the latest news coming out of the Capitol. If you have a moment, please continue to contact our legislative leaders so that expansion of the St. Cloud Civic Center remains top of mind!

The bonding bill moved quickly through the House and the Senate and now goes forward to a conference committee. The committee will likely begin meeting on Monday morning and they have given themselves a deadline of March 15 to finalize a comprise bill that will go back to the full House and Senate and then on to the Governor.

Conference Committee members include:
House: Hausman, Wagenius, Solberg, Scalze, Tingelstad
Senate: Langseth; Pappas; Tomassoni; Scheid; Koering

Yesterday was an important day for our efforts related to expansion of the St. Cloud Civic Center. The House Bonding bill included $2 million for the project and provides for further discussion and consideration among legislative leadership in the coming days and weeks.

We’re very pleased and appreciate the leadership that members of the St. Cloud area legislative delegation demonstrated and that they were able to effectively advocate for inclusion in the House bonding bill among their colleagues. It is a major step forward for this project. We hope that discussions within the conference committee and any revision to the Governor's proposed bonding bill are favorable to our expansion efforts.

The House and the Senate will likely see their respective bonding bills later this week and a conference committee will then be established to put forth one bonding bill for the Governor's review and approval.

The House Capital Investment Committee is scheduled to meet today at 10:00 a.m. and will reconvene this evening at 6:00 p.m. if necessary. It is our understanding that our request for bonding on behalf of the St. Cloud Civic Center in the House bill is under strong consideration. We will keep you posted.

Action Required Now!

MANY THANKS to all of you that joined us yesterday during our legislative visits and St. Cloud Evening at the Capitol. We are extremely pleased by the number of legislators from key leadership positions that stopped by the reception.

As our email mentioned yesterday, we continue to advocate for expansion of the St. Cloud Civic Center. The House Capital Investment Committee is scheduled to meet on Monday, March 3 at 10:00 a.m. and we plan to have a small delegation present at the committee meeting. It is our understanding that St. Cloud’s request for inclusion in the House bill is under strong consideration.

Things continue to move quickly and based on our knowledge of next week’s legislative activities, the most important thing you can do over the next few days is call or email members of the St. Cloud Area House Delegation. The delegation must ask the House leadership to include the St. Cloud Civic Center expansion in the bonding bill. Following is their respective contact information:

Representative Bruce Anderson, 19A (R) 651.296.5063 rep.bruce.anderson@house.mn
Representative Al Doty, 12B (DFL) 651.296.4247 rep.al.doty@house.mn
Representative Sondra Erickson, 16A (R) 651.296.6746 rep.sondra.erickson@house.mn
Representative Steve Gottwalt, 15A (R) 651.296.6316 rep.steve.gottwalt@house.mn
Representative Larry Haws, 15B (DFL) 651.296.6612 rep.larry.haws@house.mn
Representative Bud Heidgerken, 13A (R) 651.296.4317 rep.bud.heidgerken@house.mn
Representative Larry Hosch, 14B (DFL) 651.296.4373 rep.larry.hosch@house.mn
Representative Mark Olson, 16B (R) 651.296.4237 rep.mark.olson@house.mn
Representative Mary Ellen Otremba, 11B (DFL) 651.296.3201 rep.maryellen.otremba@house.mn
Representative Dan Severson, 14A (R) 651.296.7808 rep.dan.severson@house.mn
Representative Ron Shimanski, 18A (R) 651.296.7808 rep.ron.shimanski@house.mn
Representative Torrey Westrom, 11A (R) 651.296.1534 rep.torrey.westrom@house.mn

$32.4 million in annually!
270 new jobs!
We’re ready to break ground now!

Your calls and email have been invaluable to the overall effort and continued awareness can truly makes a difference in the final outcome.