New House leadership backs plans for U of M Rochester

BYLINE: Matthew Stolle, Post-Bulletin, Rochester, Minn.

Nov. 9--DFL Rep. Margaret Anderson-Kelliher, who could be named Minnesota's new Speaker of the House as early as today, says the University of Minnesota Rochester fits into the higher education picture in the state.

A four-year university in Rochester would be part of legislative efforts to ensure that affordable education is made available to students, she said.

"I think in the larger context, there will be a larger discussion about the higher education budget, but I think the University of Minnesota-Rochester fits into that," she said.

Some say the Rochester university will fare just as well in the state's new, unfolding political landscape as it did in the old.

The long-sought four-year university got a big political boost in the 2005 session when Gov. Tim Pawlenty, in his State of the State address delivered in Rochester, called for creating a new university here. He pledged to appropriate money for its growth, and he did so in the 2006 session.

Efforts to cast the university as being dependent on Republican control of the House are "spurious," said Sen. Sheila Kiscaden, a Rochester DFLer whose 14-year legislative career ended this year. The reason: The U in Rochester already is set on a path of growth.

"I consider it a done deal. Now we may come back in the future with some big new initiative, but the plan is on the table for how the university should grow. There'll be specific pieces of it (to be acted on), but it's not the same level of convincing the Legislature, because we've got the authorization. We got the base budget," Kiscaden said.

For years, the university has been one part of an educational triumvirate at the University Center Rochester that also includes Rochester Community and Technical College and Winona State University.

In time, the U is expected to relocate, probably to a downtown location. The smallest of the three schools, advocates hope to see it grow and develop into a cutting-edge institution focused on biogenomics, technology, health care and business.

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