Senate Office Building, Target Of GOP, Moves Ahead

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota finance officials plan to sell $85.3 million in bonds next week to pay for construction of a Senate office building that has become a political flash point.

The Department of Minnesota Management and Budget advertised the sale Tuesday and said it would be tentatively held on Aug. 5. State officials plan to begin construction of the four-story building near the Capitol within a few days of the sale.

The building is due to cost $90 million when a parking ramp is figured in, and $77 million of the total cost would be borne by taxpayers.

When it opens in January 2016, the building would be home to 67 state senators and their staff, moving them from the Capitol and an adjacent building now used primarily for House members.

The new building could also be the temporary meeting space for senators during an ongoing renovation of the state Capitol that isn't scheduled to finish until 2017.

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