St. Paul, MN - Today, the Minnesota House of Representatives passed the Transportation Budget Bill following a bipartisan compromise reached with the Senate. The legislation invests in all modes of transportation across the state by funding improvements for pedestrian and bike infrastructure, transit development and services, road safety improvements, bridge replacements, as well as freight and passenger rail projects.
State Representative Dan Wolgamott (DFL - St. Cloud) authored two significant proposals included in the final budget - legislation funding a study of the safety of Highway 10, and grants to improve the safety of school buses.
“I’m proud to pass my legislation increasing safety for children who ride the school bus and my legislation to reduce gridlock and accidents on Highway 10,” said Rep. Wolgamott. “Our transportation budget makes significant investments in road and bridge repairs and fixes crumbling infrastructure all throughout our state.”
Of the $30.9 million in Trunk Highway Corridor Studies and Local Road Grants, a portion will go towards a safety study of US Highway 10 in St. Cloud. The budget also contains grants to install cameras on school bus stop arms to help catch and enforce stop arm violations. Rep. Wolgamott also authored a provision in the bill designating specialty plates for the Minnesota 100 Club, which supports the state’s first responders.
In addition to the school bus stop arm cameras, the transportation budget prioritizes student safety by investing in safe routes to school to assist cities, counties, and towns statewide with local infrastructure projects to help ensure that students can safely walk or bike to school.
House DFLers prevailed with the inclusion of the elimination of suspension of driver’s licenses for failure to pay traffic tickets or failure to appear in court for either traffic tickets or driving after suspension. Other methods of enforcement and accountability such as collections remain in place along with suspensions for certain infractions with clear public safety objectives such as DUI, reckless driving, habitual offenders, etc. This reform measure will eliminate a policy that is disproportionately harming BIPOC and low-income Minnesotans while also freeing up court resources for more pressing matters, eliminating spiraling debt, and reducing unnecessary traffic stops. Additionally, the transportation budget contains funding for additional State Troopers, non-sworn Capitol Security officers, and body-worn cameras for all new positions.
In recognizing the need to cut carbon emissions and protect water quality in Minnesota, House DFLers advocated for the inclusion of investments in liquid deicing chemicals to reduce the use of road salt, and requiring Metro Transit to develop a zero-emission transit vehicle transition plan. In reaching a compromise, Senate Republicans refused to agree on ongoing investments to provide long-term stability to transportation funding, electric vehicle infrastructure, and Metro Transit administrative citations, to bring the penalty for fare evasion in line with parking tickets.
A spreadsheet of the investments contained within the legislation is available here. Video of the House Floor session will be available on House Public Information Services’ YouTube channel.