FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA CONTACT:
David Anderson
651-297-7202
David.anderson@house.mn.gov
News Release
Koznick Statement on the End of the Northern Lights Express
St. Paul, MN — House Republican Transportation Chair Rep. Jon Koznick (R–Lakeville) issued the following statement after the Senate approved House File 1143, on a vote of 44-23, which defunds and redirects $77 million from the Northern Lights Express rail project to cover unemployment insurance costs for seasonal school workers. Roughly $108 million in state funding for the rail project remains following the shift. The House unanimously passed House File 1143 on Saturday, 131-0.
“For years, Democrats have spent hundreds of millions of dollars on wasteful rail projects that Minnesotans barely use and can’t afford,” said Koznick. “With the House and Senate voting to shift a significant amount of the state’s share of the project’s funding, the Northern Lights Express train is effectively dead, and taxpayers are better off because of it.”
Quoting a May 8th letter from U.S Department of Transportation Koznick shared, “…without the statutorily necessary committed local match on this project, Federal funding would not be made available.” Redirecting a significant portion of the state’s share of NLX funding makes it now nearly impossible to receive federal funds, which are not likely anyway.
Koznick continued, “Republicans fought to defund NLX and redirect these dollars toward real priorities, like helping schools manage the costs of Democrat-imposed mandates. As Chair of the Transportation Committee, I’ll continue working to make sure that the remaining $108 million is spent on things that really matter like building roads, repairing bridges, and investing in the transportation systems and infrastructure that Minnesotans use and rely on, not billion dollar trains to Duluth.”
Bill HF 1143 now heads to the Governor’s desk for his signature.
Here is a link to Koznick House Floor comments on the bill.
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