The Free Press, Mankato, MN

Local News

May 1, 2009

Hockey arena chances dim

Governor unwilling to expand project list

By Mark Fischenich

Funding is looking increasingly doubtful for a women’s hockey center at MSU, for upgrades to the Minnesota Valley Regional Railroad and for any other local project not on Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s wish list.

Pawlenty sent a letter Friday to lawmakers on the bonding conference committee suggesting they drop all projects not specifically proposed by him in a letter he’d sent two days earlier. In between the two letters from the Republican governor, the Democrats heading the conference committee asked Pawlenty to clarify which projects he’d accept.

Pawlenty’s Friday letter listed somewhat vague criteria such as projects that can’t wait until next year and projects that focus on “key priorities” such as flood mitigation and maintenance of existing buildings. But he was precise later in the letter.

“... I believe you should exclude every project not referenced in my April 29, 2009 letter,” he wrote.

The Wednesday letter referenced $60 million for “facilities, maintenance and repair” at state colleges and universities — with work on existing buildings prioritized over new construction. That letter also suggested $18 million for maintenance and repair of other state buildings and facilities, money to match federal funds for maintenance work on military sites and for rail planning, and $7 million for water and sewer improvements connected to economic development.

The Senate is pushing for $6.5 million for a women’s hockey center at Minnesota State University among $329 million in projects across the state. Both the Senate bill and the House bill, which totals $200 million, include $5 million for the Minnesota Valley Regional Railroad — a somewhat dilapidated short-line railroad that serves Sibley County and several other rural counties.

Pawlenty didn’t specifically address those projects, but he wrote that local projects proposed by the House and Senate could wait until 2010. The state traditionally passes a large bonding bill in even-numbered years — approaching $1 billion in recent times — and concentrates on setting Minnesota’s two-year budget in odd-numbered years.

Lawmakers in the DFL-dominated Legislature have said that an exception should be made this year because of low interest rates on the bonds used to finance the projects and because of the need stimulate employment during a deep economic recession.

“Your general argument about job creation is noteworthy, but not particularly helpful,” Pawlenty wrote Friday. “Nearly all of the projects would create jobs, so that measurement does not meaningfully help us distinguish between projects.”

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