We've been posting about Goodview's quest for federal aid to upgrade its water treatment plant for most of the year. Congressman Walz, Senator Coleman and Senator Klobuchar have all worked to secure the money. The Winona Daily News reports that a presidential veto may jeopardize those earmarked dollars:
The Senate on Monday approved $3 million for a water treatment plant in Goodview, but the funding could be in jeopardy as it is part of a massive waters funding bill that the President has threatened to veto.
Goodview must begin construction on a $4.5 million water treatment plant in 2008 in order to meet a federal deadline for reducing radium, a naturally occurring radioactive element often found in ground water.
The $3 million earmark is included in the Water Resources Development Act, which passed easily. A companion bill cleared the House in August, and Minnesota lawmakers thought it was a cinch.
Republicans like to whine about earmarks, but this one has been completely above board: a local community has a pressing need for a water treatment plant and members of the congressional delegation openly work to secure the money. The size of the bill is less suggestive of pork than of the nation's pressing infrastructure needs.
The bill passed with overwhelming support in both chambers of Congress, and a Coleman spokesman says that Coleman will vote to override a veto.
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