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State Representative Carolyn Laine
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-4331
For more information contact: Joan Nichols 651-29X-XXXX
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TRANSPORTATION BILL DELIVERS BETTER ROADS IN MINNESOTA
This weekend the Minnesota House of Representatives appropriated $4.37 billion for 2008-2009 to keep Minnesota's transportation system moving, passing a comprehensive transportation bill (House File 946).
"This bill will give Minnesotans safer road conditions, create jobs and promote property tax relief," said State Representative Carolyn Laine. "Years of neglect, under-funding and excessive borrowing have left us with a transportation system that's considerably less safe and more expensive to maintain. Its time to stop looking to property owners to pick up the tab and start taking responsibility for our state's largest investment."
The transportation finance changes in this bill will increase the gas tax by ten cents – five cents this year and another five cents next year, eliminate the caps on motor vehicle tax, allocate motor vehicle sales tax revenue to 60 percent to highways and 40 percent to transit, and other provisions.
"This bill is a long overdue first step to mending a broken down system that once so efficiently supported our state's growing economy," said Laine.
According to Laine, over 1/3 of our state roads are beyond repair and almost 1/5 of our bridges are obsolete or deficient. The Department of Transportation estimates that $1.8 billion a year in funding will be needed to cover the unmet construction and maintenance goals for our highways, roads, and transit networks.
A comprehensive transportation funding bill has not passed in many years. This has cost us millions of dollars of federal matching funds. Recently, U.S. Representative Jim Oberstar, Chair of the U.S. Transportation Committee, advocated raising the state's gas tax as a means of generating matching money required for federal grants. Between now and 2009 $4.3 billion in federal funds are available to Minnesota – if we come up with matching funds.
The gas tax was last increased in 1988, when the state's gross domestic product was $89.9 billion. Today, a 20-cent/gallon tax is worth just 12 cents/gallon (if inflation is included), and the state's gross domestic product has ballooned to $234.5 billion. "Clearly, transportation is not paying its fair share in the growth of our state economy," said Laine. "We can't keep avoiding making the tough choices when it comes to addressing Minnesota's transportation need, to do so would have an adverse impact on the state of our economy and our quality of life."
News Items
- Rep. Laine Introduces Bill to Increase HMO Transparency - (Posted: 2012-02-13 00:00:00)
- New Law Gives Minnesotans a Natural Choice for Care of Deceased - (Posted: 2010-04-22 00:00:00)
- PROGRESS MADE IN 2009 SESSION, BUT MUCH MORE WORK AHEAD - (Posted: 2009-06-03 00:00:00)
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