 Now that Governor Dayton has signed the 2018 bonding bill, legislators are taking a victory lap. As Josh Peterson met up with local lawmakers to get their thoughts on the past session. Shaking hands and sharing words of thanks are what legislators are doing while making their rounds after Governor Mark Dayton signed a $1.5 billion public works construction bill. Local lawmakers made a stop at Bemidji State University where $22.5 million in bonding was approved for the Hag Sauer Hall project. I would say this project to the community was equally important and it was just amazing to see the outpouring of support not only from the faculty and staff here but also from the community for this project and I think that's one thing that really helped us get this over the finish line this year and get Governor Dayton's signature. For a project that's been in the works for the past five years, local legislators are saying that the demolition and construction of a new Hag Sauer Hall is one of their biggest accomplishments. The priorities for the bonding last session were the priorities from the previous bill that didn't get signed and so to get this on it moved it up to give it another year to move up the food chain to be a priority this round and that helped us a lot. While bonding for state projects was a success, the Governor's veto of the tax bill among others was a disappointment. Would have liked to see the tax conformity come through, would have liked to see the school funding go through, the tax cuts, just a lot of transportation funding that was in the other bills, if we could have just gotten that through it would have really been a successful session. The tax bill wasn't the only disappointment. Frustration over the Republican-led Senate Judiciary Committee's block of a tougher sex crime and child pornography law remains unfinished business. Those are bills that, you know, it's a re-election, those are bills that I'm going to keep freshin' in the forefront and keep pushing them until I get these things completed. Now that session is over, focus for these two house reps turns to the campaign trail where they are hoping to pick up where they left off. In Bemidji, Josh Peterson, Lakeland News. Other projects that were approved in the bonding bill include $12.5 million in funding for a Bemidji veterans home and $14 million for renovations of an elementary school in Red Lake. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.