Gov. Walz visits MSU to talk about bonding projects

MANKATO, Minn. (KEYC) - Governor Tim Walz visited Mankato Wednesday to discuss the state’s bonding bill and the state of one of MSU’s oldest buildings.

In January of this year, Governor Tim Walz proposed Minnesota’s 2023 Capital Budget Proposal. The proposal included money toward various bonding projects such as public safety and housing services. Another part of the proposal is an overhaul on the Minnesota State College System.

Walz returned to his alma mater in Mankato Wednesday to discuss the project to replace MSU’s Armstrong Hall, complete with a tour of the current building and meeting with students and staff.

“It is the center point of where we actually provide instruction to the thousands and thousands of Minnesotans who actually come here to prepare themselves to actually go out into society and to actually work and contribute. It all happens right here in this building,” said David Hood of Minnesota State University Mankato.

The bonding bill has over $8.4-million allocated for the project, and the bill passed through the state House of Representative with a super majority, but the Senate has yet to vote on the bill.

Walz says that the Minnesota State system is pivotal to supporting Minnesota’s economy, and that MSU Mankato is a leading producer of workers for what he says are three of the state’s most needed industries; teaching, law enforcement and nursing.

“I can tell you with pretty good certainty that we’ll get this thing through. We’ll get this project in and continue to make sure that we make Minnesota a place where higher ed matters to us, where all of these opportunities matter and where student choices really matter, and we know that students do have choices,” said Gov. Tim Walz, (DFL) Minnesota.

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