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State Representative Leon Lillie
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-1188
For more information contact: Christina Gosack 651-296-5524
NEWS COLUMN
Transportation Funding Shouldn't Pit Greater Minnesota Against Metro
Recently, the state Department of Transportation (MnDOT) announced that it would be shifting $100 million in new federal highway funds from rural roads to several underfunded metro highway projects.
Rural leaders cried foul, fearing that once this money gets funneled to Twin Cities projects, it would never be paid back. While their anger may be justified, the truth is that pitting rural vs. metro on the issue of funding for transportation is not going to solve our central problem: our transportation infrastructure across the state is outdated. Whether its congestion on metro freeways or the safety of rural roads, we must face up to these needs or risk crippling our state's economy and quality of life.
When the state budget was in a surplus, the leaders in the House Majority said we couldn't afford to make an investment in our transportation system because we owed it to taxpayers to return all of these surpluses. Now that our financial situation is reversed, the Governor and his allies in the House claim we can't invest in our roads because doing so would require additional revenue. However, we're reaching a point where the lack of investment in transportation is beginning to impact the state's economy.
Spending hours stuck in traffic wastes time and money for Twin Cities drivers and businesses. Inadequate road infrastructure hampers job growth in rural parts of the state, where distances from point to point are much greater.
We had the solution within our grasp last session when the House and Senate passed a bipartisan transportation funding package that would have pumped $7.7 billion into rural and metro roads and transit alike. Unfortunately, the Governor vetoed this plan because it contained a gas tax increase. The ongoing lack of funding has led to the MnDOT shifts that are frustrating rural leaders today. What will happen a year, two years, or five years from now if these shortages remain?
We need to figure out a way to fund our highways and transit systems, and we need to do it soon. The fight isn't between rural and metro areas of the state, it's between Minnesota and the rest of the global economy.
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