Minnesota Legislature / Bonding bill would benefit buses, rail

03/20/2007

BY BILL SALISBURY
Pioneer Press


Development of Minnesota rail and bus transit systems would speed up under a modest public-works funding bill unveiled Monday in the House.

"This is excellent news for our transportation system," said the bill's sponsor, DFL Rep. Alice Hausman, of St. Paul, House capital investment subcommittee chairwoman.

But the measure is bad news for the dozens of communities and organizations that sought, but didn't get, funding in the so-called bonding bill. That includes the city of St. Paul, which failed to get any of the $58 million it sought to forgive a state loan on the Xcel Energy Center and pay off debt on the adjacent RiverCentre.

"My city has fared rather poorly here," Hausman said.

St. Paul officials could find money for that proposal elsewhere in the state budget.

St. Paul-area transit projects fared well in the bill. It earmarks $30 million for final design and construction of the proposed central corridor light-rail line between downtown St. Paul and downtown Minneapolis, $3 million for renovating St. Paul's Union Depot as a transit center and $2 million to help develop a high-speed rail line between St. Paul and Chicago.

"This is a good start to a long process," said Bob Hume, St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman's spokesman.

Hausman expects her subcommittee to pass the bonding bill today. It could reach the House floor for a final vote by the end of the week. Senate DFLers have not yet unveiled their public works bill.

In addition, the House bill would provide state grants to continue designing the Red Rock transit corridor between Hastings and Minneapolis via St. Paul and the Rush Line bus corridor between St. Paul and Hinckley. It grants Washington County $500,000 to start designing a bus or rail transit corridor along Interstate 94 from St. Paul to St. Croix County, Wis. And it provides planning money for the proposed North Shore Express between Duluth and the Twin Cities.

Overall, the bill calls for borrowing, through the sale of bonds, $135 million and spending $120 million in cash from the state's budget surplus for public works projects.

That's small potatoes compared with the $1 billion in capital improvement projects the Legislature has funded in each of the past two years. But lawmakers traditionally pass their big bonding bills in even-numbered years and then, in odd-numbered years, only pay for emergency public works projects.

"A bill like this is painful to write, " Hausman said, because there's relatively little money to spread around.

Other winners in the bill are the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system, which would get $36 million and $35 million, respectively. Most of that money would go to fix leaking roofs, upgrade heating and cooling systems and make other repairs. There's no money for glitzy new buildings, although the U would get $14 million to remodel an existing building into the second of five bioscience research laboratories it wants to build over 10 years.

Duluth would get $30 million to renovate and expand its entertainment and convention center, including a new hockey arena.