Northern Lights Express passenger rail project expenditures prohibited, prior appropriations canceled, and money transferred.
HF1167 would prohibit the Minnesota Department of Transportation and the Metropolitan Council from spending any money on the Northern Lights Express passenger rail project, including money used for studying, planning, engineering, design, land acquisition, construction, grants to other entities, and even federal funds used for that purpose. The bill defines the Northern Lights Express as the proposed high-speed passenger rail line between Minneapolis and Duluth and makes the spending ban effective the day after final enactment.
The bill also cancels the uncommitted balance of a prior fiscal year 2024 appropriation for the Minneapolis-Duluth Northern Lights Express intercity passenger rail project, estimated at $194.4 million, and sends that amount back to the general fund. It then requires the commissioner of transportation to transfer an equivalent amount from the general fund to the trunk highway fund in fiscal year 2025. In practical terms, the bill would stop state support for the rail project and redirect the associated funding to highway purposes.
HF1167 would amend state spending authority by barring transportation and Metropolitan Council expenditures on the Northern Lights Express project and by canceling a large prior appropriation tied to that project. It would also shift an equivalent amount of money into the trunk highway fund, changing the use of funds from passenger rail development to highway financing. The bill affects the Minnesota Department of Transportation, the Metropolitan Council, and the counties covered by the council’s jurisdiction for this project-related restriction.
No committee transcript or recorded vote information was provided, so there is no direct evidence of debate or formal support/opposition in the supplied materials. Based on the bill text alone, the measure appears strongly opposed to the Northern Lights Express project and reflects a policy preference for ending state participation in the rail line and reallocating funds to highways.
The central point of contention is the future of the Northern Lights Express itself: supporters of the project would likely object to the outright prohibition on spending and the cancellation of the appropriation, while opponents would likely support stopping further investment in the rail line. Another likely dispute is fiscal and transportation policy, specifically whether the nearly $194.4 million should remain available for intercity passenger rail or be redirected to the trunk highway fund. The bill also explicitly blocks the use of federal money for the project, which could raise additional concerns about federal-state coordination and the loss of outside funding opportunities.