As everyone knows, the 2016 legislative session ended without compromise or final action on a bonding bill or transportation bill. As a state representative from Greater Minnesota, I was very disappointed that legislators couldn’t reach a compromise to get the job done. Even more disheartening is that some legislators seem more interested in blaming the other side for the gridlock than actually working together to reach a compromise. That is the kind of politics that Rep. Peggy Bennett engaged in with her column on Sept. 6.

Bennett would have you believe that the only reason that the Legislature was gridlocked in St. Paul was about whether to move forward with light rail transportation in the metro area. But much of what Bennett says is misleading at best. For example, Bennett implied that MnDOT could use the money proposed to be used to build light rail to fix roads and bridges. However, nearly the entire total cost would come from resources that are not available to be spent on roads and bridges. About half would come from the federal government from funds dedicated to building transit-ways. The entire other half would come from a metro-area paid sales tax. In short, metro taxpayers would be paying to build the light rail line; no Greater Minnesota taxes would be used.

Bennett also claims that state dollars would be used to operate the rail line. But she doesn’t tell you that Gov. Dayton’s light rail proposal called for the metro sales tax to cover those costs. Indeed, had Rep. Bennett supported Dayton’s transit and light rail proposal, less general fund money would be going into metro transit operations, freeing up more money for Greater Minnesota roads.

In the long-term, light rail and other transit will reduce the need to build additional highway lanes in the metro area. And if less money is needed for roads and bridges in the metro, guess who will get more money for new roads and bridges in the future? You guessed it! Greater Minnesota.

Bennett’s attempt to pit funding for metro transit versus roads and bridges seems to serve as a distraction. The fact that she and her party leaders refused to support a comprehensive transportation plan that actually paid to fix roads and bridges in the long-term and would have shifted transit operation funding in the metro to metro area taxpayers. As you might recall, the transportation “plan” supported by House Republicans aimed to siphon money from our schools and nursing homes into roads and bridges.

The bottom line for Minnesotans is that over the last two years nothing has been accomplished to fix rural roads and bridges. I believe the way to move forward is to seek compromise where Democrats and Republicans come together to solve the problem. I invite Rep. Bennett to drop the political spin, and join me in forging a compromise that truly solves our state’s long-term transportation problem. 

Clark Johnson

representative

District 19A