State officials pitch bonding requests to improve sex offender program, health testing lab

The heads of two state agencies made the case Tuesday for why their facilities should get state public infrastructure money.

This year’s legislative session is considered a “bonding year” where legislators focus on creating a funding list of public projects to construct new infrastructure or fix existing buildings.

So on Tuesday, Health Commissioner Jan Malcom and Chuck Johnson, acting commissioner of the Department of Human Services, laid out to the House Health and Human Services Finance Committee what they need money for and why. No action was taken.

The $63.44 million Department of Human Services request centers on a six-item priority list, including $18.62 million in asset preservation. An assessment identified all components of the request as in “crisis” or “poor” condition.

A $16.2 million request calls for the remodeling of three buildings at the Minnesota Sex Offender Program facility in St. Peter to add 50 beds to the Community Preparation Services program. Johnson tied the request to a recent lawsuit regarding the program by saying the project would help the state comply with court orders to reintegrate offenders into society, satisfying their constitutional rights.

The Health Department request focuses on its St. Paul laboratory that tests for diseases and contaminants.

As Public Health Lab Director Joanne Bartkus explained, their work ranges from figuring out what substance somebody poured onto the cheesy potatoes at a grocery store deli (turns out it was antidepressants) to helping combat Ebola and Zika viruses, and screening thousands of newborn babies for rare diseases.

However, the $60 million facility, which opened in 2005, has since developed chronic heating, ventilation and air conditioning issues, climaxing in a January 2014 incident where the HVAC system failed entirely and caused $1 million in repair costs and lost revenue. In order to fix the issue and study what else could be fixed, $19.9 million is being sought.