Hello from the State Capitol,
When it comes to future road and bridge investment, we now have a viable alternative to Governor Dayton's plan that would cost taxpayers $9 billion.
Legislative Republicans unveiled the Road and Bridge Act of 2015 recently, and the plan would provide $7 billion over ten years for road and bridge repairs. The best part about it? It would cost Minnesotans absolutely nothing.
More than $3 billion would be allocated by simply redirecting proceeds from certain taxes that are already being collected.
Think about this: When you buy a replacement headlight for your truck, the sales tax collected on that purchase goes directly to Minnesota's General Fund where it can be spent in any number of ways. Under this proposal, the sales taxes on auto parts would be sent to a newly created Transportation Stability Fund where it would be used for road and bridge funding purposes.
The same would be true for the Motor Vehicle Lease sales tax, the rental vehicle tax, and the sales tax on rental cars. All of these tax collections currently go to our General Fund. In the future, all would go to the Transportation Stability Fund, where along with statewide roads and bridges, the money would be used for suburban county highways, metro area capital improvements, bus services in Greater Minnesota, and even small city roads.
Additionally, the Act would utilize $1.3 billion in Trunk Highway bonds, $1.2 billion from realigning Minnesota Department of Transportation resources, $1.05 billion in General Obligation bonds, and $228 million in General Funds for our road and bridge needs.
This would lead to a $4 billion infusion for state roads, $1.44 billion for county road projects, and another $583 million for municipal roads.
By contrast, Governor Dayton wants to increase the motor vehicle registration tax, raise the seven-county Metro Area sales tax, and enact a new tax on gasoline – which will amount to drivers paying a minimum of 16-cents more per gallon – to raise $9 billion for transportation.
Basically if yours is a two-car household, you could expect to pay $600 more per year under the governor's plans. Under the Road and Bridge act, you'd see a $7 billion investment without any tax increases.
I truly believe this legislation being offered by the House majority is a common sense road and bridge funding proposal that many in our area would support. I will keep you updated on its progress.
Also, if you have not completed my annual session survey, please know I am still seeking your input. Visit my House website at www.house.mn/54B and click on "2015 Legislative Survey" to participate. Or if you'd rather have a hard copy, call my office at 651-296-3135 or drop me an email at rep.denny.mcnamara@house.mn and I'll see that you get one.
Keep in touch!
Denny