Will Pawlenty derail rural shortline upgrade?

The Mankato Free Press's Mark Fischenich reports in Area lawmakers seek funds for Sibley rail:

Improvements would benefit rural communities:

Area lawmakers are seeking $10 million in funding to upgrade the decrepit train tracks that serve as the only rail service through Sibley County.

The chances of getting that much probably aren’t great, but state and federal lawmakers have been chipping away at the $70 million planned upgrade for years and have managed to get portions of the aged track repaired.

“This is a really important project that we’ve been working on for a while now,” said state Sen. Kathy Sheran, DFL-Mankato.

U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar has joined the effort, getting nearly $1 million into a federal appropriations bill.

And there’s at least some hope the federal economic stimulus bill might result in funding for the 95-mile Minnesota Prairie Line, owned by the Minnesota Valley Rail Authority — a partnership of the counties served by the line. The line is short and fragile enough that train speeds and sizes are strictly limited, but it’s a key to economic growth in the towns between Hanley Falls and the western edge of the metro area.

The short line rail doesn't physically run through the First, but farm cooperatives and businesses in the north central part of the district. Improving the line is projected to create 600 new fulltime jobs. So what's the hitch? Fischnich's article ends:

The difficulty might go beyond persistence because Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty is insisting that any bonding bill be small. Pawlenty opposes a larger bonding bill this year because the state is already up against the Legislature’s traditional self-imposed maximum for the amount of general fund spending dedicated to debt payments.

Earlier Bluestem Prairie posts about the Minnesota Valley Rail Authority include Media coverage: shortline coalition forms.