Northstar Commuter Rail has pounded through the Legislature but political scraps still whirl in the wind.

It was an epic transportation funding story - there were tears on the House floor and lawmakers at their desks played the sound of train whistles on their microphones during key votes.

This cardboard Northstar mock-up, a relic of the commuter rail funding battles at the Capitol, graces the office of the Senate Capital Investment Chairman. (Photo by T.W. Budig, ECM Capitol Reporter)

by T.W. Budig
ECM capitol reporter

Northstar Commuter Rail has pounded through the Legislature but political scraps still whirl in the wind.

It was an epic transportation funding story - there were tears on the House floor and lawmakers at their desks played the sound of train whistles on their microphones during key votes.

Two local Republican lawmakers believe the stigma of bucking their House Republican colleagues over the commuter line lingers.

"And frankly, Kathy (Rep. Kathy Tingelstad, R-Andover) and I never recovered from that in terms of our roles in the caucus," said Rep. Jim Abeler, R-Anoka, of their Northstar advocacy. "Memories are long on some matters," he said.

(House Minority Leader Marty Seifert, R-Marshall, said while the Northstar politics could still be "festering," some caucus members question the notion of long-term political damage.)

Northstar reshaped political makeup

Northstar probably helped redraw the political makeup of the North Metro.

Two local Democratic lawmakers view their support aiding them in unseating their incumbent Republican opponents - Northstar faint hearts.

"The Northstar issue was a huge issue in my election, both in my personal motivation to undertake the race and as an issue in the district," said Rep. Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, in an e-mail.

Rep. Denise Dittrich, DFL-Champlin, also views Northstar as providing contrast between herself and her opponent, former state representative Bill Haas.

Whether by coincidence or consequence other North Metro Norsthstar critics- Krinkie, Reiter - have failed at the ballot.

Perhaps a big fight was inevitable.

Northstar supporters have long theorized the funding struggle would not have been so bitter hadn't Northstar followed the Hiawatha light rail debate so closely on the tracks.

There was a backlash

"There was just a kind of a backlash to the fact he (Gov. Jesse Ventura) had already gotten the Hiawatha light rail line passed," said former Ventura Transportation Commissioner Elwyn Tinklenberg, now running for Congress as a Democrat in the 6th District.

The "tragedy" is, Tinklenberg opined, is the delay has Minnesotans paying more for a line half the length.

Originally, Northstar was envisioned skirting 82-miles of track from beyond St. Cloud to Minneapolis. Its western railhead is now in Big Lake.

It would have happened, Tinklenberg insists of completing the longer line. "Absolutely no question whatsoever," he said.

Federal money was in place.

"It was House (Republican) leadership who killed it," said Tinklenberg.

Several factors slowed project

Tingelstad, who considered herself toughened and sharpened by the hammering she took carrying the Northstar legislation in the House, sees several factors as slowing the project.

First of all, the American political system is designed to make things difficult, she said

It was never meant for big projects to whisk through the Legislature, Tingelstad explained.

While the Ventura Administration was looking for $123 million in bonding in a lump sum, it was later deemed wiser to go after smaller amounts over a period of time, she explained.

"So you're looking at a minimum of three, four years just based on that," she said.

But the fact House Republicans were in control during the early years of the Northstar initiative made the process more political, Tingelstad explained.

This is ironic, because nationally Republicans have backed commuter rail, she pointed out.

Became a wedge issue

But in Minnesota commuter rail funding became a wedge issue.

"People can understand a train ride - it's harder to understand K-12 finance, health care reform" she said. "It (Northstar) was an issue that just happened to fall at a time where it was considered a wedge issue - sound bites on the radio and all of that," said Tingelstad.

It also got caught up in Republican gubernatorial politics, she opined.

Personally, Tingelstad never lost hope of gaining the funding. Growing up a middle child with lots brothers, she learned early the value of persistence, she explained. "I remember just thinking,

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