Guest Column by Tim Kelly

This week, we’re expected to learn that Minnesota has a significant budget surplus for the next two years. As the chairman of the transportation committee, this news will make me more optimistic than ever that legislators will come together this year to pass a long-term transportation bill to finally fix Minnesota roads and bridges.

The Republican proposal is pretty simple: $7 billion for our roads and bridges, primarily using taxes Minnesotans already paid on car parts, auto repairs, vehicle leases and rental cars. By adding in a small portion of the budget surplus and bonding, our plan would fix 15,500 lane miles of roads and 330 bridges statewide.

It would give small cities with populations under 5,000 people new, ongoing funding each year to fix local potholes and roads. It would boost funding for the popular Corridors of Commerce program that will help rebuild or expand key highways across Minnesota. Counties would receive significant new funding for county roads, many of which are badly due for repairs or expansions.

Our plan passed the House in 2015 with bipartisan support, but despite our plan having broad support from Minnesotans, Democrats still insisted on increasing the gas tax as part of the final agreement.

While the House plan relies on existing taxes, the Senate majority had a different view. Its long-term plan would force drivers to pay a minimum of 16-cents per gallon more at the pump — and that figure would only rise as the price of gasoline increases. It also increased registration fees and transit taxes, costing drivers hundreds of additional dollars every year.

We don’t think it’s a good idea to be increasing taxes on hardworking Minnesotans when our state has a significant budget surplus. Furthermore, technology advancements and increases in fuel efficiency mean gas tax revenues will continue to decline in the near future and become a less and less reliable funding source.

Since the end of last session, thankfully, Gov. Mark Dayton declared the gas tax increase dead. I hope his DFL counterparts in the Senate and House will follow suit, and join me in voting for an approach that opinion polls show is supported by a vast majority of Minnesotans.

With the great advantage of having these bills already in conference committee we no longer need to posture and complain; we can just put together a long-term sustainable transportation proposal that will greatly improve our infrastructure over the next 10 years. I am extremely optimistic we will make this happen before session ends.

 

Tim Kelly, R-Red Wing, is the chairman of the Minnesota House Transportation Committee.