More than $11 million would come to a pair of projects in south-central Minnesota under a bonding bill being finalized in the state Senate, but the potential of a veto by Gov. Tim Pawlenty threatens much of the $329 million in the bill.

There’s $6.5 million for a new women’s hockey arena at Minnesota State University and $5 million for upgrading Sibley County’s only railroad in the Senate bill completed by the Capital Investment Committee Tuesday and set for a hearing in the Finance Committee today.

A House bill, expected to be somewhat smaller, is still being constructed.

A compromise bill will then need to be passed by the DFL-controlled Legislature and sent to the Republican governor, where the entire bill might be vetoed or individual projects could be axed by Pawlenty.

“Gov. Pawlenty is open to a limited bonding bill — a limited bonding bill — that’s related to state obligations to make full use of the federal stimulus package,” said Pawlenty spokesman Alex Carey.

The $787 billion federal bill, known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, includes allocations for construction projects in Minnesota — some of which might require state matching funds.

The women’s hockey arena, which would also be used by the men’s team for practice and office space, wouldn’t have any ties to the federal stimulus bill. It would be funded with $6.5 million in state funds and a similar-sized local share paid out of the Mankato half-percent sales tax.

The proposed upgrades to the 95-mile Minnesota Prairie Line may be in line for federal stimulus money, but a decision hasn’t yet been made on where the state’s share of railroad funding will be allocated. The Senate bill includes $5 million for the upgrade of the aged track, part of an ongoing effort to allow trains to travel at 25 mph or more on the line which runs from southwestern Minnesota to the southwestern edge of the Twin Cities.

Pawlenty signed a bill a year ago that included $3 million for improvements to the Prairie Line but issued a line-item veto of nearly $1 million for design work on the women’s hockey center.

Local lawmakers hold hope the governor will be more receptive to the hockey arena funding in 2009.

“Last time, the governor’s staff told us they didn’t understand the problem,” said Sen. Kathy Sheran, DFL-Mankato.

The problem, from the perspective of Mankato officials, is that the state has helped virtually every regional center in the state to build a civic center or sports arena or both. Mankato, by contrast, financed its civic center with a local sales tax and is now asking the state to cover just half the cost of an on-campus arena for the women’s team.

Community leaders have presented their case to the governor’s staff and will probably try to do so again before the bonding bill reaches his desk, said Rep. Kathy Brynaert, DFL-Mankato.

Brynaert also expects members of the House to be open to the Mankato hockey arena.

“There’s an awareness of that lack of equity,” Brynaert said of the paucity of state support for Mankato sports facilities compared to other Minnesota cities.

It’s unlikely any other big-dollar projects will be added to the House bill for Mankato, which received more than $25 million a year ago for the final phase of the Trafton Science Center expansion and renovation at MSU. But Brynaert and Sheran said many local jobs will be created if the governor allows bonding for higher education asset preservation and replacement projects — basic heating, ventilation, roofing and other work on college buildings.

“It means local electricians, local plumbers, local carpenters — local products being purchased,” Sheran said.

And unlike major construction projects, the work can begin very quickly because there’s little lag time required for design work, Brynaert said.

“You can have people at work within weeks if not days,” she said.

The Senate bill includes $50 million for such work at facilities in the state university system, along with $35 million at University of Minnesota campuses. Brynaert expects to see a House bonding proposal in a week to 10 days.