Passenger Rail Bill Gains Legislator Support!

Passenger rail bill HF 1251- (primary author Rep Alice Hausman) which appropriates $10M in bonding funds to receive the FRA grant awarded last summer for the 2nd Proposed Daily Train between the Twin Cities and Chicago, gained significant support recently. Reps Todd Lippert (Northfield) and Gene Pelowski (Winona) singed on to the bill as co-authors signaling their support for the bill. House Transportation Committee Chair Frank Hornstein also signed on as a co-author, which sends a major message about his support for this bill.

The Governor has included $10M in his bonding proposal request, and we understand that there is support in the Senate. What this all means is that for the first time in years, there is a broad coalition of support forming within the legislature to fund passenger rail, and specifically, the 2nd Train.

All of the spending and bonding bills will considered for inclusion in the House and Senates Omnibus spending bills, which then goes to conference committees to iron out the details. But, with greater support, there is a much greater chance this bill will now be included.

Please contact your legislator, State Rep and Senator, and urge their support of this bill. This could be the year we get funding for the 2nd train!

There is a full listing of all passenger rail legislation in the blog section. It was updated April 9 with new authors who have recently signed onto bills and the new companion bills in the Senate.