10/08/2026
$730,000,000. For ONE state office building.
While Minnesota families struggle with affordability, our state government is spending nearly three-quarters of a billion dollars to renovate and significantly expand the State Office Building.
Meanwhile, other taxpayer-owned buildings on the Capitol Complex have unused space. One, the 240,000-square-foot Centennial Office Building, is expected to be 70% vacant after the relocation, and the state is considering spending another $19,500,000 to demolish it.
Even more frustrating:
The project was approved in December 2022 by a small group of legislators on the House Rules Committee, through a voice vote, rather than a recorded vote of the full Legislature. A financing arrangement authorized in 2021 allowed the project to proceed without a separate Senate approval.
Construction is well underway. The decisions have been made, the money committed, and taxpayers are left paying the HUGE bill.
Government spending needs greater transparency, scrutiny, and accountability BEFORE the money is committed.
It's our money. We deserve better stewardship of it.
