Minnesotans of all political persuasions seem to agree: The Legislature and Gov. Mark Dayton must get back to work and hammer out deals on transportation, bonding and tax relief, and do it quickly.

On Monday, farmers, veterans and folks from Madelia agreed to be part of a Republican press conference highlighting the need for tax relief for veterans, farmers and businesspeople. They were urging Dayton to sign the tax bill that had been passed by both houses with strong majorities.

And while Dayton vowed his support for the bill, he could not in good conscience sign a bill that had a legitimate $100 million mistake in it. Dayton believed his commissioner of revenue and a legal team that said incorrect wording in the bill could risk the state losing charitable gambling tax money that would trigger a higher tax on new Vikings stadium suites.

While legislators said they could fix this without legislation, Dayton wasn’t convinced and he made a reasonable decision to hold off signing the bill. He makes the case that the bill can be easily passed if legislators come to agreement on the issues in a special session.

But other important constituencies are asking legislators and Dayton to address other critical issues, including the most important one – transportation.

The Republican-leaning Minnesota Chamber of Commerce made a public statement shortly after the session ended urging a special session for a transportation bill.

“There’s no more important ‘unfinished business’ from the regular session than adopting a comprehensive package for sustained and strategic funding of roads, bridges and transit,” said Chamber President Doug Loon in a statement.

The chamber urged that long-term transportation funding be passed in a special session and that metro transit proposals for funding be included as a must. The group also noted that the bonding bill that nearly passed included almost $700 million for transportation through bonding and general fund money.

The Minnesota Transportation Alliance also urged road funding in a special session. The group represents municipal governments, businesses, labor groups as well as transit and airport authorities.

Executive Director Margaret Donahoe said Minnesotans have waited long enough for expansion and safety needs of the roadways.

“Without transportation funding this year, money for much needed improvements and expansions will plummet by 45 percent next year. Time is running out to make our roads and bridges safer, and Minnesotans shouldn’t have to wait any longer,” she said.

Dayton and Senate DFLers have been on board with full, long-term transportation funding. House Transportation Committee Chair Tim Kelly of Red Wing told the Star Tribune he could have brokered a deal with Democrats before the end of the session, but he deferred to leadership.

“I always want to be respectful of leadership. They’ve got a job to do and tough decisions to make,” Kelly told the Star Tribune. “In the end, this path was something they decided on. I can’t say I agree with it, but I understand this is the system we work under.”

It was a subtle poke at GOP Speaker Kurt Daudt, who now must lead to come up with a deal Kelly said he could have made.

Daudt was quoted by the Fargo Forum saying a week ago he didn’t think not passing a transportation bill would hurt the GOP much “politically.”

Minnesotans notice the roads like they notice the weather, mostly when they’re bad. And they are, empirically, bad. While Minnesota once had a standard of accepting 2 percent of its roads in poor condition, it is now in the 7 percent to 9 percent range, according to MnDOT. In a few years, it could be as high as 25 percent if funds are not allocated to fix roads before they get twice as costly to fix.

Maybe that’s too complicated to figure out for those voting “politically,” but we don’t think so.

And while Dayton initially seemed stuck politically on his new “demands” structure for a special session, he said Tuesday that he knows he, Daudt and Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk all must compromise in order to agree to a special session. We couldn’t agree more.

 

— Mankato Free Press, June 8