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Legislative News and Views - Rep. Tom Hackbarth (R)

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Prioritizing roads and bridges

Friday, April 22, 2016

Dear Neighbor,

We are wrapping up another week in the 2016 session. This year's biggest bills are rounding into shape now and the final month before we adjourn May 23 will undoubtedly be a busy one.

Bills related to two very important subjects – taxes and transportation – are expected to come to the forefront in the days and weeks ahead.

One thing about the transportation issue is it seems as if everyone agrees we need to improve our roads and bridges. That has been identified as a top priority, so let's stick with it and put a stable, long-term plan in place.

The plan House Republicans offer uses taxes Minnesotans are already paying on car parts, auto repairs, vehicle leases, and rental cars and dedicates that revenue through a Transportation Stability Fund. By adding in a portion of the $900 million budget surplus and bonding, the Republican plan would fix 15,500 lane miles of roads and 330 bridges statewide.

The Senate DFL majority unveiled its proposed budget targets, devoting less than 4 percent of the $900 million surplus to transportation. In addition, Governor Dayton and DFL lawmakers continue to push the largest gas tax increase in state history (at least 16 cents per gallon) and costly light rail expansion.

Again, this is about upholding our priorities. For the amount of money Democrats want to spend on one train in Minneapolis, we could repave six lanes on every interstate in Minnesota, fund four years of Metro Transit bus operations and make a historic investment in the new small cities road and bridges funding program.

The vast majority of Minnesotans travel in cars or trucks on roads and bridges every day. That is where people want our transportation dollars to go and I encourage the governor and Democrats in the Senate to join in efforts to follow through this session. Let's focus on roads and bridges.

I will pass along more details on this topic and also get into more depth on tax relief as things develop at the Capitol. Until next time, have a good weekend.

Sincerely,

Tom

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