Dear Friends,
I wanted to be sure you’re aware of the upcoming town hall forums hosted by myself, Senator Torres Ray, and Rep. Jean Wagenius. The first will be on:
Wednesday night, January 21st, 7pm – 8:30pm at Peace Coffee, 3262 Minnehaha Ave, Minneapolis.
The second will be on:
Saturday morning, January 31st, 9:30am – 10:30am at Nokomis Community Center, 2401 E. Minnehaha Pkwy, Minneapolis.
Beginning of Session
Last Tuesday we began the 2015 legislative session. Since it followed the election of 2014, we got to see new members and their families on the floor. However you feel about elections and their results, it’s always heartening to see the families and friends of new members witnessing their first day doing the people’s work.
As the week went on, committee memberships were finalized. I will be serving on the Education Finance Committee, the Education Innovation Policy Committee, the Taxes Committee, and will be the lead for the minority on the Property Tax and Local Government Finance Division – which is the committee I chaired in previous years.
Issue of the year (so far): Transportation
The week really ramped up when the Governor, the Senate, and our new House leadership unveiled their priorities for the session. Amongst the most talked about were the House and Senate proposals for transportation infrastructure. The Governor will likely release a full plan in the coming weeks but he did reveal pieces of his proposal. Non-partisan experts have evaluated the state of our transportation infrastructure, its repair needs, and the projected growth of our state and economy. They’ve concluded that if we want to maintain the current system and not experience major increases in congestion, we need to spend $600-800 million a year for the next 10 years. For some sense of how much that is, Minnesota’s total economy was estimated at $312 billion for last year alone.
The Governor has revealed that he would like to see wholesale gasoline subject to a sales tax, which it currently is not. Unlike the sales tax, the revenue would be dedicated towards transportation needs.
The Senate’s proposal would spend a little under $800 million a year in all areas of the state and all modes of transportation. For our district, it’s important to note that the metro-only sales tax for transit would increase and finally allow us to build out comprehensive multi-modal systems that most of our competing metro regions enjoy.
Our House leadership unveiled a $200 million proposal that tries to new find money within existing funds and spends part of this year’s surplus on roads only. It doesn’t generate any new or any permanent funds for roads and it doesn’t yet address any of the transit needs of the Twin Cities metro region.
Before session started, our new Speaker of the House had been open to new resources for roads and I’m hopeful that this proposal will evolve as session continues.
What are your thoughts on our state’s transportation needs?
Please feel free to contact me directly with your comments and questions. You can reach me by phone at (651) 296-0173 or by email at rep.jim.davnie@house.mn. Thank you for the honor of serving you at the State House.
Sincerely,
Jim Davnie