Progress Made on Minnesota Transportation Funding Package
With its session set to end May 23, Minnesota’s Democratic-led Senate and Republican-controlled House might be getting closer to passing a transportation funding package worth $1 billion annually.
Each side offered concessions as they conferred publicly May 6.
The Democrats reduced their proposed fuel-tax increase from 16 cents per gallon to 12 cents per gallon phased in over three years and also said they would allow counties in metropolitan Minneapolis to devote some tax revenue from mass transit to roads and bridges.
The Republicans, who rejected the Senate’s scaled-down fuel-tax increase, agreed to consider a sales tax hike for mass transit. They’re balking at moving a bill that will allow the state to borrow money for infrastructure projects until there’s agreement on the bigger funding package.
“We are holding out hope that there will be a compromise that both houses will agree to and that will be signed by Gov. [Mark] Dayton said Margaret Donahoe, executive director of the Minnesota Transportation Alliance, which advocates for more transportation funding. “The Senate came back with a real compromise proposal. We don’t know when we will see a [true] counter offer from the House. The leadership in the House has said that they plan to devote the $900 million surplus to tax cuts and transportation, but there has been no indication of how much for tax cuts and how much for transportation.”
"The [Minnesota Trucking Association ], along with other business and labor groups, have urged the conference committee to not lose the opportunity to pass a meaningful bill. We believe a comprehensive package, covering both roads and transit, still has a real chance to pass this session, especially given the budget surplus. But adjournment looms close and the time to cut the deal is now,” John Hausladen, CEO of the Minnesota Trucking Association told Transport Topics.
