Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka joined Governor Tim Walz on Tuesday morning as he signed HF80 which included $6.9 million in available funding from the Public Facilities Authority (PFA) for Little Falls to renovate their waste water treatment plant.

Gazelka said, “I’m pleased to have worked with both sides of the aisle and with Governor Walz to make sure funding for this project was included in our final agreement. I encourage the PFA to move forward with the Little Falls project as soon as possible. Everyone in Little Falls can trust that we are taking care of our natural resources.”

With the governor’s signature, HF80 clears the way for the project in Little Falls to move forward. The 2018 Bonding Bill originally funded the Little Falls treatment center through appropriation bonds from the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund (ENRTF), administered by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR). This funding mechanism was under threat of a lawsuit and at the Governor’s request, the legislature began looking for alternative methods to fund the projects. Using General Obligation bonds in the 2019 bill will allow work in Little Falls to begin as soon as it is needed.