Minnesota Senate joins House in approving Southwest light-rail audit

The Minnesota Senate voted unanimously Monday to require the Legislative Auditor's Office to review the troubled Southwest light-rail project.

The legislation, which the House passed 129-1 earlier this month, has the support of Gov. Tim Walz.

The bill, which appropriates $200,000 from the general fund for the audit, also requires the Metropolitan Council to provide status updates on the Southwest project twice a year to legislators. The Senate vote was 65-0.

"I like to say that, 'What do I know? People just tell us stuff,'" said Sen. Scott Dibble, DFL-Minneapolis, the chief sponsor of the Senate bill.

"The instrumentality we have, the tool we have, is the Legislative Auditor, who can really get in there, look at the record, consult expertise, find out the facts, view all the communications –- really find out what's going on and report to us in great detail, along with some analysis around policy and principle," Dibble said.

A Senate amendment to the bill would require the council to notify the Legislature if the project is expected to be delayed by six months or more or if total costs increase by 5%. House lawmakers can agree with the changes proposed in the amendment or move the bill to a conference committee to work out the differences.

Dibble and Rep. Frank Hornstein, DFL-Minneapolis, began pushing for an independent review of the project last summer, when transit planners tapped an additional $200 million from Hennepin County to cover cost overruns.

Earlier this year, the Met Council, which is building the 14.5-mile line between Minneapolis and Eden Prairie, said construction would cost an additional $450 million to $550 million, bringing the total cost to $2.75 billion. Passenger service will begin in 2027, four years later than expected.

The council said complications related to construction of a tunnel in Minneapolis' Kenilworth corridor, the addition of a mile-long $93 million crash wall separating light-rail and freight trains west of Target Field and a station in Eden Prairie caused the project's price tag to surge.

As in the House, the call for an audit garnered vocal support in the Senate from both sides of the aisle. Sen. Julia Coleman, R-Waconia, said a recent hearing on the Southwest project before the Legislative Commission on Metropolitan Government, which she chairs, "was a frustrating hearing, at best."

"The lack of transparency by the Metropolitan Council is unacceptable, and their ongoing evasiveness to real, important questions is problematic," Coleman said. "I believe that this audit will give us the clear answers we are seeking."

In a statement, officials from the council said they welcome "this transparent review into the complexities of the project, and we have already begun working with the Office of the Legislative Auditor as they prepare to move forward with their evaluation."