The House GOP bonding bill introduced Monday proposed $9 million for the expansion of The Hormel Institute — $4.5 million less than what Austin officials originally asked for.

The city of Austin, through the Austin Port Authority, is asking for $13.5 million in state bonding funds to help pay for a $27-million expansion, which would double The Institute’s size and create 125 jobs.

The other half of the funding would come through a Port Authority bonding issuance, meaning the Port Authority would own the expansion and The Hormel Foundation would pay it back.

The $9 million figure stands in contrast to the $13.5 million Gov. Mark Dayton’s proposal outlined. If it ends up going through as-is, The Hormel Foundation will need to find the remaining $4.5 million elsewhere. There are many ideas for contingency plans, but nothing is official from the city’s perspective, said Jim Hurm, executive director of the Port Authority.

“We’ll come up with one way or another to get this thing done,” he said. He’s still very optimistic that the bonding bill will go through at the $13.5 million level, he added.

The expansion has received bipartisan support.

Gov. Mark Dayton included The Institute’s request in his bonding wish-list released in January and Sen. Majority Leader Dave Senjem, R-Rochester, has publicly expressed support for the project in recent months, calling it an “absolutely outstanding project.”

Local Reps. Jeanne Poppe, DFL-Austin, and Rich Murray, R-Albert Lea, and Sen. Dan Sparks, DFL-Austin, also back the project.

“A big chunk of what we’re looking at is going to go to the Capitol,” Murray said. There will be ongoing developments over the next week or two and negotiations of the amount of funding for each item on the bill. “I’m sure there’ll be some changes to it,” he said.

The Hormel Institute expansion is one of two separate bills that make up the $500 million bonding bill, which will be heard this afternoon at the House Capital Investment Committee, said Tom Freeman, committee administrator. The other bill, which focuses solely on renovations to the capitol, was approved yesterday.

The end of the session will be the deadline for the bill.

House GOP Bonding proposal Highlights

Along with $220 million to renovate the Capitol, House Republicans’ $280 million bonding proposal includes:

•Hormel Institute: $9 million (city of Austin requested $13.5 million)

•University of Minnesota system: $39 million (Dayton proposed $78 million)

•Minnesota State Colleges and Universities: $56 million (Dayton, $112 million)

•Department of Natural Resources: $21 million (Dayton, $56 million)

•Minnesota Zoo dolphin tank renovation: $5 million (Dayton, $7 million)

•Building a State Emergency Operations Center in Arden Hills: $2 million (Dayton, $26 million)

•Transportation, including bridge replacements, road improvements, transit and airport infrastructure: $39 million (Dayton, $74 million)

•Department of Corrections: $14 million (Dayton, $54 million)

•Statewide community projects to boost employment and economic development: $46 million (Dayton, $165 million)

•Minnesota Historical Society: $3 million (Dayton, $3 million)

— The Associated Press contributed to this report.