The proposed women’s hockey arena at Minnesota State University — and most other project requests from local officials around the state — were left out of a state House bonding bill revealed by its author Monday.
Offering a plan that’s about 40 percent smaller than a bill that previously passed the Senate, House Capital Investment Finance Committee Chairwoman Alice Hausman said she wished the bill was larger.
“I know there are many very disappointed people and I’m one of them,” Hausman told the committee.
Given a budget target of $200 million by DFL leaders of the House, the St. Paul Democrat said she eliminated entire categories of requests “even though some were shovel ready and very worthy.”
One of the disappointed lawmakers was Rep. Kathy Brynaert, the sponsor of the proposed $13 million women’s hockey center at MSU, which would be funded with a combination of state money and proceeds from Mankato’s local sales tax. But Brynaert said Hausman and other lawmakers are supportive of the project, and there’s still hope for state funding of the arena if the bonding bill grows in size.
“All of the local projects are out, so it’s nothing against our project,” said Brynaert, DFL- Mankato. “... We’re probably at the top of Alice’s list.”
Hausman said she would prefer a larger bill with even more projects that are ready for immediate construction to help create jobs in a deeply depressed economy.
One regional project that did make the list was the Minnesota Valley Regional Railroad that runs through Sibley County on its 95- mile route from southwestern Minnesota to the western edge of the Twin Cities. The House bill matched the $5 million provided by the Senate legislation.
Hausman called it “ a slow train that moves lots of commodities and needs improvement.”
The counties that jointly own the line have worked for years to gain state and federal money to improve the decrepit line so that it can carry heavier trains at higher speeds. It had deteriorated to the point that trains faced a 3 mph speed limit in some areas, and a train once derailed while standing still.
Rep. Terry Morrow, a St. Peter Democrat who has pushed for the state funding, said the project also has the benefit of bipartisan support, partly because it runs through the districts of both Republican and Democratic lawmakers. And Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who has vetoed other local projects, including the MSU women’s hockey arena, allowed $3 million for the project in the 2008 bonding bill.
Pawlenty has suggested he’ll be reluctant to agree to a large bonding bill this year because the state is already at its traditional self-imposed limit for the percentage of general fund revenue devoted to bond repayments.
For the bill to grow in size, the public is going to need to be show support for the idea of job creation through state-funded building projects, Brynaert said. Brynaert and Morrow said Hausman did a good job of focusing the bill on projects that will create jobs quickly while also making good long- term investments in state infrastructure. More than $78 million is aimed at state colleges and universities, the bulk of it for preservation work such as roofing, painting, paving and other basic maintenance.
The Capital Investment Finance Committee is expected to vote on Hausman’s proposal today.
“All of the local projects are out, so it’s nothing against our project.”
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