Governor Mark Dayton is calling together stakeholders this afternoon to see if there’s any way of building the Southwest Light Rail Line in the Twin Cities, after attempts to reach agreement with Republican leaders failed last week. Senate G-O-P Leader David Hann from Eden Prairie says, “I’m sure there probably is a way to do it, but I don’t think it’s the right way to do it.” Hann says two billion dollars of public money should not be spent without the legislature’s approval. Backers counter if counties benefiting from the project want to build Southwest Light Rail themselves, that’s their business — and elected officials in that area will be accountable to taxpayers. Hann fires back, “We went through a big debate on the Vikings stadium a few years ago that was only a half-a-billion dollars of public money. We had bills, we had amendments, we had debate, we had hearings, we had votes in committees.”
Here’s the complete interview with Senator Hann: