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Howe encourages support of House GOP transportation plan

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

 

ST. PAUL – Rep. Jeff Howe, R-Rockville, is urging support for a long-term transportation plan that would invest $7 billion in state roads and bridges over the next 10 years without an increase in the gas tax.

A cornerstone of the House Republican proposal is a provision Howe authored that would direct tax dollars already paid when purchasing auto parts toward roads and bridges. In total, the plan would repair or replace more than 15,500 lane miles of road and 330 bridges statewide.

"It is important to improve our roads and bridges and this package allows us to do so without raising taxes," said Howe, a member of the House Transportation Policy and Finance Committee. "This proposal provides consistent, sustainable transportation funding for the long term."

Over the next 10 years, the Republican proposal invests:

$4 billion for state roads
$1.4 billion for county roads
$583 million for municipal roads
$282 million for small cities under 5,000
$139 million for Greater Minnesota bus services
$60 million for township roads and bridges

The proposal creates a special fund called the Transportation Stability Fund that collects existing proceeds from dedicated tax revenues and deposits them into accounts for each of their dedicated purpose. There are five accounts that would dedicate a combined $3.1 billion over 10 years.

In addition to the dedicated funds provided by the Transportation Stability Fund, the Republican proposal uses $1.3 billion in Trunk Highway bonds, $1.2 billion from realigning Minnesota Department of Transportation resources, $1.1 billion in General Obligation bonds, and $228 million in General Funds.

Expanding funding for the Small Cities Program is one of the major components of the House Republican plan. The program, which House Republicans led to passage in 2015, resulted in nearly $222,500 in small-cities funding for District 13A, including Rockville ($51,778), Cold Spring ($47,611), Paynesville ($35,280), Richmond ($23,035), Avon ($21,075), Eden Valley ($19,098), Kimball ($17,531), Roscoe ($7,042). Under the House Republican plan these cities would receive even more ongoing small-cities funding in the future.

"We made good progress last session but more needs to be done," Howe said. "Small cities in parts of the state like ours run pretty tight budgets and this direct funding is a big help to them."
 
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