ST. PAUL – Rep. Paul Anderson, R-Starbuck, is joining fellow House Republicans in urging lawmakers to work together to finalize a transportation package this session.
"There really is no question over whether we need to fix our roads and bridges," Anderson said. "The consensus among people I talk with in our district is that roads and bridges should be a priority, so we have common ground in that regard as we look for the best options."
The House Republican plan uses taxes Minnesotans are already paying on car parts, auto repairs, vehicle leases, and rental cars and dedicates that revenue through a special Transportation Stability Fund. By adding a portion of the $900 million budget surplus and bonding, the Republican plan would fix 15,500 lane miles of roads and 330 bridges statewide.
The Senate DFL majority recently unveiled its proposed budget targets, devoting less than 4 percent of the $900 million state budget surplus to transportation. In addition, Gov. Mark Dayton and DFL lawmakers continue advocating for a historic gas tax increase and expansion of light rail in the Twin Cities area.
U.S. Sen. Al Franken and Dayton’s Metropolitan Council chairman have urged legislators to spend state funds on Southwest Light Rail this session. The Metropolitan Council Transportation Committee estimates the total cost of the SWLRT Green Line extension has grown by nearly 50 percent, with initial estimates at $1.2 billion while recent reports state a new cost of $1.77 billion. Federal and local tax dollars are expected to fund part of the overall cost of the project if it moves forward.
"It is hard to justify such expensive projects to expand trains in the Twin Cities at a time the state's infrastructure already is falling behind," Anderson said. "We could repave six lanes of the entire interstate system in Minnesota, provide a significant increase in the new small cities road and bridges program, fund four years of Metro Transit bus operations, conduct a $3.5 million project on I-94 in our district and still have money left over compared with the cost of adding a single train line in Minneapolis."
Dayton and the Senate DFL majority continue to push the largest gas tax increase in state history. The proposal would raise gas prices by a minimum of 16 cents per gallon, a figure that would rise as the price of gasoline increases. A tax at that level would move Minnesota to the second-highest gas tax in the nation.
"One thing we need to think about is whether technological advancements will leave us consuming less and less gasoline, making that tax a less reliable source of revenue," Anderson said. "This is a good time to take a closer look at proposals that would use other sources to support our roads and bridges as a top priority."
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