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Legislative News and Views - Rep. Drew Christensen (R)

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Drew's News: Proposed Transportation Constitutional Amendment Passes House

Friday, May 18, 2018

Friends, 

We are down to the wire here at the Capitol. We must adjourn on Monday and must have bills passed out of both bodies by Sunday night. It's been an incredibly productive biennium and I hope that Governor Dayton will finally come to the table over these last remaining days with real intent to negotiate with the House & Senate Republicans to make it even better. 
 

Constitutional Amendment Roads & Bridge Funding 

On Thursday, we passed proposed legislation on a bipartisan 76-54 vote that would constitutionally dedicate existing sales tax revenue from auto parts to statewide road and bridge construction. This would build on our historic transportation investments made during the 2017 session, all without raising taxes. 

If approved by the Minnesota House and Senate, voters would decide this November whether or not to redirect the already-collected sales taxes to road and bridge repair on state, county, township, city, and small-town projects.

Anyone who has driven on Minnesota's roads anywhere in this state knows we need to do a better job of taking care of them. This proposal has the support of a broad coalition of advocates that includes labor, business, agriculture, and transportation advocates. We believe the people of Minnesota should have a say in dedicating this funding to fix our roads and bridges. Without this proposed amendment, dollars that should go towards roads and bridges all too often end up going to build the latest choo-choo train. 

I hope the Senate acts on this soon, it is one of the few things we can do without needing Governor Dayton's signature and we all recognize roads and bridges as a core function of government. This should be an easy call.

As always, please continue to stay in touch to share your thoughts and ideas. You can schedule a time to meet with me in my office anytime by calling my office at (651) 296-9463 or share your thoughts via email by emailing me at rep.drew.christensen@house.mn.

Have a great weekend! 

Drew