ST. PAUL – After crafting legislation last session that resulted in billions of dollars being invested into transportation needs without a tax increase, State Representative Paul Torkelson (R-Hanska), chairman of the Minnesota House Taxes Committee, is prioritizing road and bridge needs once again.
This week Torkelson unveiled a supplemental transportation finance bill that would allocate another $385 million for Minnesota’s transportation priorities.
“Last year we approved the largest transportation funding plan in a decade, but the need is still there,” Torkelson said.
Torkelson said his bill would utilize surplus funds leveraged with trunk highway bonds to spend $385 million on transportation needs this year.
Torkelson notes that the Corridors of Commerce program, which is a statewide funding source that helps build new roads across the state such as Highway 14, is also in line for more revenue under his proposal. It would receive $145 million in bonding proceeds and $10 million for cash, with the cash portion being used for purposes such as purchasing land. The Corridors of Commerce program received $400 million in new funding last session.
“We are committed to moving forward on improving Minnesota’s road and bridge infrastructure, and this proposal will continue the significant progress we made on transportation funding last year,” Torkelson concluded.