SMSU to get $1.2M from bonding bill

Published Thursday, May 21, 2026

A view of the SMSU campus

Republished from the Marshall Independent with permission. By Deb Gau

MARSHALL — The 2026 bonding bill that the Minnesota state legislature passed this week will help with facilities updates at Southwest Minnesota State University, as well as infrastructure improvements in several area communities.

SMSU will receive $1.2 million in state bonding dollars, according to details of the over $1.2 billion bonding bill.

“We’re definitely excited to have some investment in our facilities,” said Nathan Polfliet, associate vice president of advancement at SMSU. “We’re very grateful to our local legislators for supporting this.”

Also included in the bonding bill were funds for street and water infrastructure projects in southwest Minnesota communities like Slayton, Russell, and Ghent.

Information released by Minnesota House Fiscal Analysis and Senate Counsel, Research and Fiscal Analysis broke down the more than $1.2 billion capital investment bill passed by state legislators early this week. The bill included a total of $69.8 million in bonding for projects in the Minnesota State system of colleges and universities. It included Higher Education Asset Preservation and Replacement (HEAPR) funding, as well as bonding requests from Alexandria Technical and Community College and SMSU.

SMSU will receive $1.2 million for facilities projects. The 2026 capital investment breakdown listed the bonding dollars as being for projects on the university’s locker rooms and gymnasium, and an athletics dome structure.

At this point, Polfliet said, the university is waiting to learn more specifics about what the bonding dollars can be used for. SMSU’s original bonding request was for about $24.3 million, he said.

Polfliet said updates to the locker room areas have been a high priority for the university for some time.

“The locker rooms really need quite a bit of work,” he said.

For the complete original article, visit: https://www.marshallindependent.com/news/local-news/2026/05/smsu-to-get-1-2m-from-bonding-bill/