A surprise to no one in Minnesota is the fact that our roads and bridges have been neglected for years, even decades. Finally, a bold, albeit expensive, plan has been put on the table by Gov. Mark Dayton to fix this. The initial response from the GOP, which we hope is a feint, is to kick the can down the road and “study it further.”

And the chess game begins.

Dayton last week proposed resurfacing or replacing 2,200 miles of roadway, repairing 330 bridges and boosting funding for local infrastructure projects — with a new 6.5 percent tax on gas at the wholesale level, an increase in license tab fees and another metro tax for increased bus service.

The gas tax could add 16.25 cents a gallon at current prices.

Regionally that means $2.7 million a year in transportation funding to Blue Earth County and $1.4 million for Nicollet County, increases of about 28 percent, by 2019. And with $1.6 billion commitment to the Corridors of Commerce, the likelihood of completing Highway 14 is high.

While Dayton said he initially balked at raising taxes, he added: “One guarantee I can make: If we do nothing more, conditions will continue to get worse.”

Rep. John Petersburg, a Waseca Republican and vice chairman of the transportation committee, said Republicans are still trying to figure out the scope of the problem. “It’s a little bit early to box ourselves in the corner with a solution” when the problem hasn’t been clearly defined, he told the AP.

Rep. Tim Kelly, Republican chairman of the transportation committee, told MinnPost, “It’s irresponsible to create a longer term plan if we don’t understand and agree with what the need is. We hear $10 billion, we hear $6 billion, we hear $54 billion. That’s the issue.”

Well, a 2012 report of the Transportation Finance Advisory Committee says there is a $6 billion revenue gap over the next 10 years just in bringing our roads and bridges back in shape. Admittedly the committee was assembled by Dayton, but the Republicans have had plenty of time since then to refute this claim or launch their own study. Instead, now they want more time. Meanwhile, they propose a short-term funding plan of $750 million over the next four years taken from the budget surplus.

State lawmakers have pursued a long-term transportation package for years. The last large-scale transportation plan was passed in 2008, when Republicans joined Democrats in overriding a veto by GOP Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

Kelly admits there is a need for investment in transportation and offered some hope that through negotiations an agreement could happen this year. This is essential.

To date, there has been no political courage in Minnesota to pick up the slack from declining federal transportation fund. The last time the Legislature acted decisively was when the Interstate 35 bridge in Minneapolis collapsed. Do we need another collapse before legislators come together? We certainly hope not.

Let’s put things in perspective. Looking at the 16 cents a gallon proposal, which may be high, the average cost to motorists (15,000 miles annually at 25 mpg) would be about 27 cents a day.

The $6 billion being sought is for roads over 10 years — not transit. The need is real. We will not spend $6 billion in one year but we need to spend dollars over 10 years. The longer we wait, the more expensive it gets. The fact that the plan is over 10 years means we have time to adjust even downward if necessary. But we need to start sooner than later before inflation makes costs rise even higher and conditions make it worse to fix.

Efficiencies are part of Dayton’s plan, so there is an appreciation we can do better. However, the GOP proposal doesn’t deal with this problem in a real way. We can hope this is a bargaining chip and that genuine negotiations will get this resolved this session.

— Mankato Free Press, Feb. 1