The proposed new Senate Office Building is getting a lot of attention at the Capitol right now, and will be getting a lot of attention this coming election season, too. Republicans are using the estimated $90 million project as a way to paint the DFL majority as wasteful. Meanwhile, Gov. Mark Dayton and the House DFL have concerns about the cost and size of the project, too. In defense of the new building, Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, said his chamber is actually giving up a lot of space during the simultaneous Capitol building renovation. “The Governor is almost doubling his footprint in the Capitol under the new, tentative space allocation… The Services for the Blind are adding significant space. The Historical Society is almost doubling the amount of space they’re going to have in the Capitol. The Senate is giving up about 38,000 square feet of the space we occupy in this building.” 
PoliGraph: Bakk office building claim correct
['Mark_Dayton', 'Republican_Party_(United_States)', 'Minnesota_Democratic–Farmer–Labor_Party', 'Russell_Senate_Office_Building']