St. Paul – On Friday, House Republicans called on Governor Dayton to fund roads and bridges without a gas tax increase. Governor Dayton and his staff are expected to prepare his first transportation offer this weekend and announce it Monday morning. This comes on the heels of House Republicans offering a compromise transportation proposal Wednesday based off their ten-year plan to meet the state’s road and bridge infrastructure needs with existing resources.
"With a $900 million surplus, we don’t need to ask for more of Minnesota family budgets," said Rep. Ron Kresha, R-Little Falls. “It seems like common sense, but the state shouldn’t take more money for roads and bridges when we have such a large surplus.”
In a 2015 poll of District 9B, over 72% of respondents were against a gas tax increase.
“As Governor Dayton drafts his counter offer this weekend, I strongly urge him to remember his own words from December: ‘a gas tax increase is dead’. Minnesotans expect us to fund our roads and bridges and they’ve asked us to do so without forcing them to pay more at the pump,” said Speaker Kurt Daudt, R-Crown.
The House Republican offer released Wednesday puts additional dollars into highways, township roads, turnbacks and makes progress on rail safety. On the transit side, in an effort to ensure taxpayer dollars are spent efficiently and effectively, the House Republican compromise provides common-sense Met Council reforms.
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