In the final hours of the 2023 legislative session, the House and Senate passed a bonding bill providing $136 million dollars for two of the University’s requested projects:
- $43.35 million for Higher Education Asset Preservation and Replacement (HEAPR) systemwide
- $92.6 million for Chemistry Undergraduate Teaching Laboratories on the Twin Cities campus
This is the first bonding bill to pass the legislature since 2020, and the bill is now on its way to Governor Walz for signature. Bonding bills are more challenging to pass because they require a 2/3 majority. Your advocacy was critical to help garner Senate votes in the last days of session: UMN Advocates sent 764 messages to state elected officials last week in support of the University’s capital request.
View a comparison of the capital investment proposals during the 2023 legislative session.
In sum, the Minnesota Legislature passed 70 bills this session. The higher education budget bill is expected to be signed by the governor this morning. Many additional bills impact the University, including a bill that ensures its academic health facilities— the University Medical Center East and West Bank hospitals and the Masonic Children’s Hospital—cannot be owned or controlled by a for-profit or out-of-state entity, unless the attorney general, in consultation with the commissioner of health and Board of Regents, determines ownership or control by a for-profit entity or out-of-state entity is in the public interest. Read the press release.