ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota Senate has joined the state House of Representatives in requesting an audit of the problem-plagued Metro Transit Southwest light-rail extension project.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that, by a 65-0 vote, the Senate approved the bill appropriating $200,000 for the audit and requiring twice-yearly updates to legislators on the project. Because the Senate version includes an amendment requiring the legislature to be notified if the project is expected to be delayed by six months or sees an increase of at least 5% in total cost, the bill now goes back to the House, which can accept the changes from its version of the bill or send it to a conference committee to reconcile the differences.
The House approved its version of the bill by a 129-1 vote earlier this month [see “Proposed audit of Minnesota light-rail project advances to state Senate,” Trains News Wire, March 7, 2022].
Legislation requiring the audit was introduced in January, after the Metropolitan Council, which oversees Metro Transit, said the cost of the project had risen from $2 billion to as much as $2.75 billion in a year, with the completion date now projected as 2027 rather than 2023.
