The Minnesota Legislature kicked off on Tuesday with a bang … of gavels. Here are some of the key issues before the Legislature, by the numbers.
5.3: Number of dollars, in billions, requested by state and local governments for construction projects.
9: Number of those requests involving wastewater treatment facilities.
11: Number of dollars, in millions, the Minnesota Zoo requested for “monorail track repurposing.”
2.6: Number of dollars, in billions, that Gov. Tim Walz’s capital budget recommends spending for state construction projects.
23: Number of times the word “curling” appears in the governor’s list of recommended local government capital budget projects.
1: Number of dollars, in billions, that Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka said he would be more comfortable with in a bonding bill.
5: Maximum number of years a convicted felon could be on supervised release, Minnesota’s version of parole, under an amendment to state sentencing guidelines that will be adopted, barring intervention from the Legislature.
5.9: Years, on average, that Ramsey County felons serve on supervised release.
3.3: Years, on average, that Hennepin County felons serve on supervised release.
11: Number of states that have legalized marijuana for recreational use.
10: Number of states that have legalized marijuana for recreational use via citizen initiative.
1: Number of states that have legalized marijuana by an act of the Legislature.
16: Number of states that could vote on recreational marijuana in 2020, including South Dakota.
106: Millions of dollars in overpayments made by the Minnesota Department of Human Services to providers over the past six years.
96.1: Billions of dollars in total payments made over that period.
2.36: Billions of dollars in the state rainy day fund.
1.87: Billions of dollars that will be in the rainy day fund in July of 2021 to account for the budgeting deal that led to the current budget.
8: Current number of congressional districts in Minnesota.
7: Number of congressional districts that Minnesota is projected to have following the 2020 Census
17: Days before the Iowa Caucuses that Minnesotans were able to cast ballots in the 2020 presidential primary.
266: Days between the opening of the 2020 Legislature and Election Day.
