A compromise bonding bill approved by the Minnesota House and Senate Wednesday brought good news and bad news for the Mankato area.

What was included in the $925 million construction bill — virtually every local project that had made it into either the House or Senate versions of the bill — was pretty much exclusively good news for south-central Minnesota.

“I think it’s a real strong bill for our state,” said Rep. Kathy Brynaert, DFL-Mankato. “It really invests in our infrastructure, clean water, transit, additional transportation investments and all kinds of community projects that are important for regional economic development.”

The bad news came with Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s assessment that the compromise approved by the DFL-controlled Legislature violates the state’s tradition of caution in borrowing money through bond sales. The Republican governor considers the bill to be about $100 million too large and indicated he would veto all or part of it.

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