Should the St. Croix River Crossing be Subjected to a Full House Debate?

Two Minnesota members of the U.S. House of Representatives hope Michele Bachmann’s St. Croix River Crossing bill will get a full debate on the House floor.

Reps. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.) and Keith Ellison (D-Minn) are asking their fellow House members to send congressional leaders a letter “urging that the controversial and fiscally irresponsible bill, H.R. 850 not be brought to the floor under a ‘suspension of the rules.’”

Bachmann (R-Minn.) hopes to bring her legislation to the House floor as a suspension bill, said Maria Reppas, a spokesperson for McCollum.

“Suspension of the rules is a House floor procedure, which is normally used to vote on non-controversial bills,” Reppas explained. “H.R. 850 is extremely controversial, and it should not be considered under these circumstances.”

McCollum has agreed with the need of a new river crossing, to the “boondoggle bridge” saying that the project is “fiscally reckless,” “out of scale” and an “.”

Bachmann argues that McCollum is on the wrong side of the issue, and she released a statement to the Pioneer Press saying McCollum’s latest move is a favor to environmental lobbyists.

Bachmann’s legislation . The bill would authorize an exemption to the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act and allow the construction of a four-lane bridge connecting Highway 36 at Oak Park Heights to Wisconsin.

Bachmann’s bill has the bipartisan support of elected officials in both Minnesota and Wisconsin. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) has penned a companion bill in the Senate that has not yet received committee approval.

“The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a cost estimate on Oct. 18 that found the bill would increase direct federal spending by $8 million, yet no off-set is included,” McCollum’s letter to her colleagues reads. “This bill requires the construction of an exotic $700 million “extradosed” bridge design, designates a specific location, and comes with a CBO scored price tag which makes H.R. 850 the equivalent of a congressional earmark.”

MnDOT estimates that the cost of the proposed four-lane bridge would be between $574-$690 million.