It’s disappointing for Greater Minnesota that there will not be a special legislative session to complete the unfinished work of the 2016 session. As a result, there will be no bonding bill to address infrastructure needs across the state — like the wastewater treatment facilities and transportation assistance for small cities. And there will be no middle-class tax relief or comprehensive transportation solution either, despite a $2 billion surplus and big promises.

There will be lots of finger-pointing and excuse-making in coming weeks. But that’s all just the same old politics as usual. The bottom line is simply this: the Legislature did not deliver for Minnesota.

I’m sure you’ll hear Republicans like Peggy Bennett blame the outcome on trains in the metro. What she doesn’t say is that the proposal to fund rail projects in the metro area would have been paid for entirely by the metro communities where the rail would be located. Bennett will have to explain why refusing to allow metro counties to pay for their own transportation needs is more important than cutting taxes for families and investing in roads and bridges in her district and across the state. It’s like cutting off your nose to spite your face, and it makes no sense. And at the end of the day, it’s not leadership; it’s an embarrassment.

There were other issues that blocked a special session deal as well. Rep. Bennett and House Republicans insisted on hundreds of millions of earmarked projects in the bonding bill, including $34 million for a pet project — a road to nowhere — in Majority Leader Joyce Peppin’s metro district. Meanwhile, many shovel-ready projects in Greater Minnesota, roads, water infrastructure and nearly $7.5 million for Riverland Community College, have been shelved. Why Rep. Bennett cow-towed to her metro leadership instead of fighting for her own district I’ll never understand.

It’s time to cut the excuses. Gridlock in St. Paul serves no one — neither does dividing Minnesotans from one another. In 2017, we need to come back and work swiftly to pass a bonding bill and middle class tax relief that benefits every Minnesotan who is willing to work hard. And if the DFL is in charge, we will!

Paul Thissen

House Minority Leader