Bonding bill as bargaining chip

State lawmakers are heading home for a week-long break with a bonding bill still unresolved for the 2012 session.

House Speaker Kurt Zellers, R-Maple Grove, rejects the notion that the bonding bill might be in trouble. He said the delay is the result of a busy schedule of floor votes on other bills. But House Majority Leader Matt Dean, R-Dellwood, offered a different explanation. Dean suggested that movement on the bonding bill was contingent on DFL Gov. Mark Dayton's willingness to bargain on other issues.

"I know a lot of our members are very, very interested in having the governor sign some reform bills before we take up the bonding bill," Dean said. "They'd like to see some more work product out of the governor. They want to see some yeses from the governor before taking up that bill. So, there's going to be more of an will be more of an appetite for that when we start to see some yeses from Gov. Dayton."

Republicans are hoping for Dayton's support on several tax proposals, including a phase-out of the statewide business property tax. But Dayton has raised concerns about the fiscal impact of both the House and Senate tax bills.

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