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Saint Paul council adopts 2026 legislative priorities, lists bonding and mitigation requests
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Summary
City staff presented the 2026 legislative top priorities and support items; council adopted the agenda, which includes federal disruption language, public-safety funding requests, mitigation for MnDOT reconstruction impacts and bonding requests for several projects (Mississippi River Learning Center, Komozoo, Randolph Avenue, Saints Ballpark upgrades).
The Saint Paul City Council unanimously adopted its 2026 legislative agenda after a brief presentation by Jennifer Rourke, the city's director of government relations. The agenda is intended to be adopted before the state legislative session and reflects input from the mayor's office and council members.
Rourke highlighted key additions: tightened language on federal disruption impacts; two funding asks in public safety for nonfatal shooting prevention programming and a juvenile trades program run by police; support for state mitigation funds to assist businesses and nonprofits affected by MnDOT street reconstruction projects (citing Payne Avenue and Robert Street as precedents); and bonding priorities including $10 million for the Mississippi River Learning Center, $20 million for Komozoo big cat exhibit renovations, $3.5 million for Randolph Avenue bridge reconstruction and $8 million for Saints Ballpark improvements. She said dollar figures would be finalized for the printed final document.
Council members asked about bonding dollar amounts and asked Rourke to finalize figures in the printed legislative packet. The council adopted the legislative agenda 6–0.
What happens next: the city will transmit the adopted priorities to the delegation and use the priorities as the framework for state-level advocacy during the upcoming session.
