Provides for grants for freight railroad preservation and improvement.

This bill authorizes $4.5 million in G.O. bonds and appropriates the funds for a new category of freight railroad rehabilitation and infrastructure improvement grants being established under the Minnesota Rail Service Improvement (MRSI) program. The program requirements consist of: Grant eligibility for class II and class III railroads, local governmental units, and shippers(regardless of rail facility ownership); A grant maximum at 80 percent of project costs; and Prioritization of awards based on capital or rehabilitation projects to improve service, segments experiencing low rail service use, and more than 20 percent of the funding coming from non-state and nonfederal sources.

Carries-over to 2018. Companion to SF 2093.

03/01/2017 Introduction and first reading. Referred to House Committee on Transportation and Regional Governance Policy.
03/09/2017 House Committee on Transportation and Regional Governance Policy report recommends adoption and referral to House Committee on Transportation Finance.