See more of the story

Major Minnesota earmark requests before Congress for the coming year:

Central Corridor light rail, $25 million: Proposed rail line connecting Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Metropolitan bus transit, $10 million: 150 hybrid electrical buses for the Twin Cities.

Asian carp barrier, $4 million: Barriers to limit the inflow of invasive Asian carp species in the Upper Mississippi River Basin.

Mankato Field maintenance shop, $17.6 million: National Guard maintenance facility.

Beyond the Yellow Ribbon, $2 million: National Guard reintegration program for soldiers returning from overseas deployments.

Northstar commuter rail project, $72 million: Remaining federal funds for commuter rail line between Minneapolis and Big Lake. (By some definitions, this funding request is not an "earmark" because it is in the president's budget and was recently approved for full funding by the Federal Transit Administration. Nevertheless, it must compete for funding in Congress this year.)

Source: Office of Governor Tim Pawlenty