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Twin Cities Business - Short Lines, Big Problems http://tcbmag.com/news/articles/2017/June/short-lines,-big-problems on," says Wisconsin's freight railroad program manager Richard Kedzior. "We had to experience many years of failures to learn we needed to put real money into it. "I wish Minnesota had Wisconsin's vision back when the Milwaukee Road started talking about abandoning all its lines in southern Minnesota," says MVRRA's Beard, who at the time was in the Minnesota Legislature. Iowa began funding short -line rail in 1974, fueling $140 million in improvements via $41 million in appropriations and loan repayments, while retaining or creating 2,000 jobs. Iowa's annual appropriations average $2 million a year and allow for low-interest loans or grants, which require job creation/retention and have to meet wage thresholds. The program receives some funding from gambling revenues. (Lottery revenues in Minnesota are solely dedicated to environmental causes in the state.) Minnesota short lines have proposed that the state fund a program of annual grants like Wisconsin's and Iowa's to preserve rail infrastructure and the jobs that come with it. An initial proposal from Rep. Matt Dean (R-Dellwood), whose district includes the Hugo line, was for $4 million per biennium. "From a policy standpoint, the economic viability of rural Minnesota is a big deal," says Dean. "It's not a great deal of cost to maintain rails already in place." "There is a public-private interest," agrees Sen. Roger Chamberlain (R -Lino Lakes), who also represents Hugo. "We should try to fix it. The difficulty is finding a way to finance." Despite this, and the apparent bipartisan support for the goal, attempts to create funding streams like Iowa's or Wisconsin's have repeatedly been caught up in legislative politics and gridlock. A contributing factor may be Gov. Mark Dayton's level of interest. His office has mostly prioritized grade crossing and oil train safety measures and is currently only proposing a one-time $2 million short line allocation, even though MnDOT's state rail plan estimates the cost to bring state short lines to modern standards is over half a billion dollars. The railroads themselves are asking for far less than that, and say only some of the funds are urgent. "Understand, though," says Wegner, "what we're asking for would not bring the [Minnesota Prairie Line] to a good state of repair, just closer." That the need is in mostly GOP districts would seem to enhance the short lines' chances this session, but it also runs into the inherent conservatism of the GOP caucus. "Anything that is new spending is a big deal," notes Dean, who has announced his candidacy for Governor in 2018. "If we're going to decide to do it, it's because we believe there is no private sector solution" Public or private good? Rail advocates are quick to point out that the state and feds subsidize other modes. "We pay to maintain our trackage and pay property taxes on it," says Gohmann. "But who maintains the roads [for trucks] and waterways [for barges]? Taxpayers do." Even supporters are skeptics, though. "Railroads are still private businesses," says Chamberlain, "and they are looking for the cheapest way out, just like the state" As a result, the issue risks getting muddled into the larger debate about infrastructure and who will pay. "Freight levels are set to doubI[Cld§@jirding to the GAO," says Progressive Rail's Fellon. "If we can't resolve this now, how will we ever handle it?" 5 of 9 6/16/17, 11:35 AM