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State Representative David Dill
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-2190
For more information contact: Sandy Connolly 651-296-8877
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Veto stops St. Louis County transportation funding
St. Paul, MN - With his veto of the Transportation Finance Bill today, the Governor stopped a plan that would have brought $2.9 million to St. Louis County for transportation projects next year. The funding included in the House/Senate bill would have increased incrementally up to almost $13 million in 2015, with an estimated ten-year total of $93 million.
"This funding would have paid for many desperately needed projects in St. Louis County," said Rep. David Dill (DFL-Crane Lake)."This will delay them will into the next decade, and maybe beyond that."
An amendment offered by Republican representative Ron Erhardt added the significant funding components in the bill. It includes a gas tax increase, 5 cents a gallon this year and another 5 cents by 2008. The state gas tax is currently 20 cents a gallon and was last increased in 1988. Each penny of new gas tax raises $32 million annually.
This bill also generates revenue by increasing license tab fees on new vehicles and $100 million in Trunk Highway bonds per year beginning in FY06. Funding for public transportation was also increased, doubling the amount for rural transit.
The total funding would have put $7.7 billion into the state's transportation system over the next 10 years, including $5.9 billion for roads, with $3.2 billion going to highways in Greater Minnesota.
“The last time the gas tax was increased was in 1998," said Dill. "Think about it, with the price of materials like concrete, blacktop, steel, aggregate, labor, healthcare, equipment costs all going up dramatically, how can we expect to maintain our roads and bridges without additional revenue."
The bill had the support of Democrats and Republicans in both the House and the Senate.
""It's been 17 years since our last major transportation funding initiative," said Dill. "I had hoped for some compromise on the part of the Governor to get this one passed.
Increasing a tax is never something that feels good. In this case, there is great unmeet need and it is the right thing to do."
News Items
- Budget Forecast: Good news for this year, bad for the coming two Fiscal crisis in Washington creates uncertainty and concerns - (Posted: Dec 7 2012 12:00AM)
- MOLPUS LANDS STATUS QUO FOR NOW - (Posted: 2012-10-18 00:00:00)
- Rep. David Dill encourages hunters and trappers to apply for wolf license - (Posted: 2012-08-17 00:00:00)
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