Bloomington previews 2026 legislative platform, highlights sewer and corridor capital requests

City staff presented the draft 2026 legislative platform and emphasized priorities the city will pursue at the state and federal level in the coming legislative session.

Staff named the top state capital request as the North Central Sanitary Sewer Project, which would upsize sanitary sewer capacity adjacent to I-494 and 35W to support denser redevelopment in the Penn American District. "So our top priority is the North Central Sanitary Sewer Project," the presenter said.

The second highlighted capital request is the Old Shakopee Road Corridor Improvement Project (between Aldrich and 2nd Avenue), a county-coordinated effort to improve safety, accessibility and mobility for pedestrians, cyclists and transit users on a corridor that has historically prioritized higher-speed vehicle travel.

Staff also said the city will reintroduce a bill to allow an intoxicating liquor license at the Dwan/Duong Golf Course (a reintroduction of last session's draft liquor language) and outlined priorities including broadband access, data-practices authority for local governments, housing-related licensing/inspection authority for group homes, and regional child-care feasibility studies.

Staff noted two federal earmark requests are in process and that final federal steps depend on Congress including the projects in final appropriations. The council will consider formal adoption of the platform on next week's consent agenda and hold a legislative breakfast with the Bloomington delegation on Jan. 9.