ST. PAUL – House Democrats are expected to approve Monday their Transportation bill (HF 1555) which increases the gas tax by 20 cents per gallon – a 70% increase – and raises total transportation tax increases of $4 billion dollars over four years.
"There is simply no need to raise the gas tax by 20 cents per gallon at a time when the state has a billion dollar surplus," said Rep. Kristin Robbins, R-Maple Grove. "Minnesotans want their government to prioritize road and bridge infrastructure, funding them using existing resources. We already pay 28.5 cents per gallon and this proposal would raise the gas tax to a whopping 48.5 cents per gallon by 2022, which is simply unaffordable for Minnesota families and businesses. Republicans have a plan to fund improvements to roads and bridges without raising taxes on the low and middle-class Minnesotans, which is exactly what the gas tax does."
In addition to the 20-cent-per-gallon increase, which would give Minnesota the fourth highest gas tax in the country, the House Democrat Transportation bill increases taxes by another $2.3 billion by increasing the vehicle registration tax, the metro sales tax, and the new vehicle sales tax.
The bill also raids $417 million from roads and bridges by taking money dedicated from auto parts sales tax funds and giving into the state's general fund, where it can be used for anything. Money that is statutorily dedicated to road and bridges should not be diverted to general spending. This reversed the major investments House & Senate Republicans made during the last biennium to fund road and bridge infrastructure without a gas tax increase.
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