By T.W. Budig
ECM capitol reporter

The bonding bill is already taking shape, with familiar projects like Northstar Commuter Rail vying for dollars in a money scramble that will highlight the 2006 legislative session.

By the time final requests come in, House Capital Investment Chairman Dan Dorman, R-Albert Lea, expects the wish list to total about $3 billion.

Dorman anticipates a $700 million to $800 million general obligation bonding bill, so requests will be thinned over the course of the session.

Although not wanting to prejudge, some of the requests, such as a $20 million city reforestation request from the Department of Agriculture, drew a ìhuh!î response from the chairman.

At first blush, that seems like a local concern, he explained. Northstar Commuter Rail in priority is currently No. 3 on the Department of Transportation (MnDOT) bonding list.

MnDOT is requesting $50 million in bonding for Northstar, proposed to run between Big Lake and Minneapolis with six stations feeding riders onto the trains along the 40-mile route.

Last session, the project gained about $38 million in bonding, capping off a major political battle that had kept the bonding spigot shut.

ìI think weíre over the highest hurdle,î said Rep. Kathy Tingelstad, R-Andover, House Northstar bonding legislation author.

Not that the additional bonding, which would be the last the state need to make on the $265 million capitol project, is a foregone conclusion.

ìI donít expect anything will be easy,î said Tingelstad.

Rep. Mary Liz Holberg, R-Lakeville, House Transportation Finance Committee Chairwoman, explained that the ease of obtaining additional Northstar bonding in part depends on the funding actions of the federal government, on whether an agreement is reached on the use of the Burlington, Northern Santa Fe tracks, among other variables.

ìI will never support it,î said Holberg of Northstar, who views buses and busways as a superior form of transit to rail.

Busways are included in the preliminary state agency requests.

The Metropolitan Councilís highest bonding priority is for about $8 million for a proposed I-35W bus rapid transit route skirting between Minneapolis and Lakeville.

Some 200,000 vehicles a day currently course down 35W.

The councilís No. 3 request is for $5 million for the Cedar Avenue bus rapid transitway, running from I-494 to Apple Valley. Besides several transportation projects, other projects of local interest are found in the agencyís preliminary requests.

The Department of Correctionís No. 2 bonding priority is for about $18 million for a segregation unit ñ separate prison space for high-risk, violent offenders who have committed serious offenses within the prison system ñ for Stillwater prison.

Currently about 110 segregation inmates are housed in a four-tier facility which correctionís officials argue offers poor visibility of the prisoners and allows them to toss waste through the barred cell fronts.

Corrections officials want the ability to shut off water and electricity to individual cells as a means of controlling behavior.
Correctionís No. 4 request is for about $3 million for a medical facility at Lino Lakes.

The 27-year old Minnesota Zoo is looking for $10 million in asset preservation in 2006 ñ it gained $24 million for the Gateway to the North exhibit, asset preservation, debt forgiveness last session.

The Zoo is also looking for $16 million to remodel its main building into a Biodiversity Center, which will offer food, gifts, space for children.

Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) No. 3 bonding request is for $14 million for a math and science building addition at St. Cloud State University.

Itís No. 11 priority is for $5 million for classroom additions at Normandale Community College in Bloomington.

The Pawlenty Administration will more formally address bonding requests after the November economic forecast, which will help determine the stateís debt carrying capacity, explained Pawlenty Press Secretary Brian McClung.

The forecast is expected in late November or early December. The administration, by law, must release its bonding request by Jan. 15.

The Department of Fiance is urging local government to make their bonding requests by the end of the month, though legally, they have until November. Dorman, for one, hopes that legislative leaders quickly furnish the capital investment committees with budget targets and let the committee process begin to work.

ìThereís no need to sit until May,î he said of finishing capital bonding.

Dorman said he has spoken informally with the Pawlenty Administration about bonding. ìThey seem to understand that itís going to be a large bill,î he said.

Last session, the Legislature passed a $885 million bonding bill, one that had been delayed for a year after the partisan impasse of the previous session.

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