Highway 14 funds could be diverted to bridge

10/04/2007

Panel must approve separate spending


By Mark Fischenich
The Mankato Free Press
October 4, 2007


A legislative panel — one that virtually no one in Minnesota has ever heard of — may determine whether the long-awaited Highway 14 expansion between Waseca and Owatonna begins as scheduled next July.

The Transportation Contingent Appropriations Group, which is scheduled to meet again today, is a panel of eight senior lawmakers being asked by the governor to approve the spending of $195 million for the replacement of the Interstate 35-W bridge in Minneapolis.

Minnesota Department of Transportation officials have warned they would have to take funds from other scheduled highway projects around the state if the legislative panel doesn’t authorize the bridge spending.

“Very, very concerned,” said Owatonna Mayor Tom Kuntz, summarizing his thoughts about the potential of MnDOT’s cash-flow problems delaying the $130 million Highway 14 expansion.

“That would be a very tempting target (for MnDOT),” said Kuntz, chairman of the Highway 14 Partnership.

Area leaders have been working since the 1970s to get the road expanded from two lanes to four, and it would be a demoralizing blow for them to see the money diverted — even temporarily — when the construction is finally slated to begin in July.

“I hope that we have strong enough leaders at the state that can find a way to cover the shortfalls rather than always robbing Peter to pay Paul,” Kuntz said.

Kuntz has sent a letter on behalf of the Highway 14 Partnership — an organization made up of 76 cities, counties, businesses and other organizations along the route between Rochester and New Ulm — asking MnDOT Commissioner Carol Molnau to not divert the Highway 14 funds.

That won’t happen if the Transportation Contingent Appropriations Group agrees to authorize the $195 million MnDOT needs to start the reconstruction of the collapsed I-35W bridge this fall.

State Rep. Terry Morrow of St. Peter isn’t on the panel, but he said there’s concern among lawmakers about a handful of lawmakers authorizing such a huge amount of spending. Just five of the eight members of the group need to sign off on the authorization for it to take effect.

Morrow said the panel’s typical role is to authorize the transfer of federal funds to pre-approved projects when the federal money arrives during times of the year that the Legislature isn’t in session.

Morrow, a freshman Democrat, isn’t sure what the panel should do.

The state money is intended as only a stop-gap measure until $195 million in federal funds, promised by Congress and President Bush, arrives. Authorizing it will allow the bridge to be rebuilt more quickly and avoid the disruption that would come with MnDOT scrambling to divert money from needed projects throughout the state, Morrow said.

On the other hand, the state constitution intends for only the Legislature to authorize large amounts of spending.

“The appropriate legal means for that is to have the Legislature in session or in special session,” said Morrow, who doesn’t expect the governor to call a special session. “... Nobody wants 14 to move forward more than I do. At the same time, nobody’s more concerned that the Legislature abide by the constitution and the law than I am.”

Kuntz understands lawmakers’ concerns, but he hopes the panel approves the $195 million stop-gap appropriation. And he hopes the Republican governor will agree next legislative session to boost the state gas tax or find other ways to raise more money for roads.

MnDOT’s inability to cover costs while awaiting the federal bridge funds is more evidence the agency has been starved of new revenue for too long, he said.

“You’d think you’d have some reserve funds to cover some of that,” Kuntz said. “And there’s none.”