Committee approves referral of Northern Lights Express bill after hours of testimony and a roll‑call split

Representative Anderson offered House File 11 67 on March 19, a bill that would direct the Commissioner of Transportation to cease spending state funds for the study, planning, engineering, design and construction of the proposed Northern Lights Express (NLX) passenger rail service between the Twin Cities and Duluth. The committee adopted the author’s A‑1 amendment and, after several hours of testimony and debate, referred the bill to the Ways and Means Committee by a roll‑call vote (8‑7).

Why it matters: the bill addresses a high‑profile passenger‑rail proposal that already has a state set‑aside and was seeking federal competitive funding; passage out of the Transportation Committee moves the question to budget deliberations in Ways and Means. Supporters of continuing the project warned that withholding state match funds would forfeit federal grant…