A compromise bonding bill proposed by key lawmakers from the House and Senate preserves — but reduces — funding for Mankato’s civic center project and a railroad upgrade in Sibley County.
The proposal, offered by a working group of House and Senate bonding leaders, makes several concessions to Gov. Tim Pawlenty after he pledged to veto the $1.1 million construction bill put forth by the DFL-dominated Legislature last month.
The latest offer trims the bill to $986 million, still substantially higher than Pawlenty said he would support.
Among the cuts was another $1 million from the $13.9 million requested by Mankato to cover half the cost of building a new theater as part of the civic center complex, along with upgrading and slightly expanding the civic center and All Seasons Arena. The bill Pawlenty threatened to veto had already cut the Mankato project to $13 million, with the proposed compromise dropping it to $12 million.
The offer also cut funding for improvements to the outdated Minnesota Valley Regional Railroad between Gaylord and Winthrop from $6.5 million to $5 million.
Surviving in its entirety was $1.9 million in design funding for a new building for Minnesota State University’s nursing, dental hygiene and speech and hearing departments.
Many other projects faced more substantial reductions as lawmakers tried to reduce the size of the bill and free up money to add projects favored by the governor — including additional funding to purchase land for a new state park on Lake Vermilion and for an expansion of the Moose Lake facility for court-committed sex offenders.
For the complete Free Press story click on http://mankatofreepress.com/local/x1029315099/Revised-bonding-bill-includes-local-projects
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