State legislators and local leaders were scheduled to visit The Hormel Institute today to tour the site of a potential expansion project, according to the Hormel Institute.

Rep. Larry Howes, chair of the House Capital Investment Committee, and Rep. Alice Hausman, the committee’s DFL lead, were scheduled to be at The Institute at 11 a.m. to discuss the Austin Port Authority’s request for $13.5 million in state bonding funds to expand the world-renowned cancer research center. City of Austin leaders were also expected to take part in the tour, along with Sen. Dan Sparks and Rep. Jeanne Poppe, of Austin.

“We hope the state will give great consideration to funding this,” Port Authority Executive Director Jim Hurm said.

“It’s obviously very important to Austin to expand The Institute and create these jobs. That’s why the Port Authority is involved in it,” he added.

The request for $13.5 million in state bonding funds represents half of the estimated project cost. The rest of the funding would be through an Austin Port Authority bonding issuance, meaning the Hormel Foundation would be in a contractual agreement with the port authority to make bond payments, city officials previously said.

The tour was also supposed to include a presentation about the funding and need for bonding dollars, as well as a tour of the areas that will be renovated or expanded.

“It’s a bipartisan (bonding) bill that needs two-thirds support, so it’s important to get a wide variety of support from around the state,” said Tom Freeman, Minnesota House Capital Investment committee administrator, last week. “It is truly a visual representation of what The Hormel Institute is trying to do with these dollars.”

Look to the Herald on Tuesday for more information on the tour and expansion.