St. Cloud State lab omitted from bonding bill

For those wondering what happened to the $42 million St. Cloud State University lab proposal that could not be found in Gov. Mark Dayton's recent bonding bill, the St. Cloud Times reports it was too low on the radar to be considered:

Minnesota State Colleges and Universities last year requested $42.3 million for the proposed St. Cloud State laboratory.

St. Cloud State officials say the project — dubbed the Integrated Science and Engineering Laboratory Facility, or ISELF — would catapult the university’s science and technology programs.

But a Dayton spokeswoman, Katharine Tinucci, said the project wasn’t enough of a MnSCU priority to be included in the governor’s bonding proposal. The ISELF project ranks 13th on the MnSCU priority list.

“We deferred to what (MnSCU) asked for,” Tinucci said.

This isn’t the first time legislators have considered funding for the St. Cloud State lab and the St. Cloud Civic Center expansion.

Allotments for both projects passed through the Legislature in 2010 but were vetoed by then-Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

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