ST. PAUL -- Governor Tim Walz Tuesday reinforced his support for a robust statewide bonding bill as a mechanism for stimulating Minnesota's struggling economy .

The Local Jobs and Projects Plan, originally unveiled in January, is a priority item for state lawmakers who were called into a special session by Walz last week.

Walz, joined Tuesday afternoon by Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan and several other officials, says he has been traveling around the state, taking inventory of Minnesota’s myriad infrastructure, public works and housing needs.

"We asked communities what they needed," Walz said. "Some of these projects have been vetted for years. We went out and we toured water treatment plants. We walked through armories with leaky roofs. I went 90 feet below the surface of Minneapolis to look at the storm sewers that were built over a hundred years ago."

Walz says bipartisan approval of the bonding bill will boost employment numbers and stimulate a state economy struggling to regain its footing.

"Minnesota needs to invest in its infrastructure," Walz said. "It needs to invest in our people. Not only will it create jobs, it keeps the value of our most precious assets up."

The special session of the Minnesota Legislature began last Friday at noon. Walz is leaning on the legislature to stay in session until the passage of a bonding bill, along with legislation tackling police reform and accountability.

A roughly $2 billion bonding bill, proposed by House Democrats, failed at the end of the last legislative session.

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