By Mark Fischenich

MANKATO — No, No, Yes, No, Yes, No ...

That’s the best-case scenario for what state Rep. Alice Hausman and her House bonding committee will be doing sometime in late March or April as they pare down the list of proposed construction projects around the state.

A more likely scenario might involve adding a third “No” for every “Yes.”

“We will get somewhere between $3 billion and $4 billion in requests,” said Hausman, a St. Paul Democrat and chairwoman of the Capital Investment Committee. “And we’ll probably do just less than a billion.”

If the ratio holds for the Mankato area, there’d just be one project approved from the four Hausman and her committee visited Thursday morning and early afternoon.

There was a stop in Winthrop to hear about a $10 million request to upgrade the county-owned railroad there, and a stop in St. Peter where a proposed bike trail needs $400,000 in design money. There was a presentation in Mankato regarding $13.9 million being sought to improve the Verizon Wireless Center and add a performing arts theater.

And there was a final pitch at Minnesota State University, which is seeking $1.9 million in design funding for a new building for its nursing, dental hygiene and speech and hearing departments.

The Senate bonding committee, which made an earlier visit to the region, will formulate a bonding bill of its own. And Gov. Tim Pawlenty will have a proposal, along with the final say because he can line-item veto any projects approved by the Legislature he doesn’t like.

Despite growing animosity between the Republican governor and the Democratic Legislature, Hausman said initial discussions between Pawlenty and legislative leaders about the bonding bill were cordial.

Lawmakers will likely favor a bill of around $1 billion, and Pawlenty suggested he will proposal a smaller bill, Hausman said. But a substantial borrowing bill to invest in statewide infrastructure seems to be a joint goal.

“I don’t think we’re that far apart,” she said.

Hausman said the MSU proposal has a chance despite receiving a low ranking by the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Board of Trustees. The design money, which would be followed by requests in future years for $35 million in construction funding, is 25th on the MnSCU board’s priority list.

MSU representatives ranging from President Richard Davenport to dental hygiene students made their case for the new three-story building, which would consolidate related programs scattered around the campus and create the classroom and lab space needed for a growing number of students.

A looming shortage of nurses and other health professionals by 2017 was a key part of the sales pitch.

“That’s where our real market need is,” Davenport said. “That’s where we put our money, and we hope it’s where you put your money, too.”

Higher education is always at the top of the Legislature’s priority list when it comes to the bonding bill, and science-related programs are at the top of the higher-education list for both lawmakers and the governor, Hausman said. The jobs statistics are also a factor in MSU’s favor.

“(The MnSCU ranking) doesn’t mean it won’t get done,” she said. “I wouldn’t get discouraged.”’

But there’s still that basic math problem Hausman mentioned earlier — three or four dollars worth of requests for every dollar of available funding.

“We’ll say ‘No’ more often than we say ‘Yes,’” she said.