Senate OKs transport bill that raises gas tax 10 cents

05/19/2005

Pat Doyle, Star Tribune
May 19, 2005


Challenging Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s pledge to block tax increases, the DFL-controlled Senate on Wednesday approved a $7.8 billion roads and transit bill that raises taxes on gasoline under a plan crafted by a Republican member of the House.

Soon afterward, Pawlenty vowed to veto the bill, citing the gas tax and money that would go to “metro area transit at the expense of Greater Minnesota road projects.” But he applauded a provision allowing voters to decide whether to amend the state Constitution to permanently dedicate motor vehicle sales taxes for transportation. That vote would occur even if the bill is vetoed.

The 36-31 vote was cast along party lines, with all DFLers and an Independence Party senator voting for the bill and all Republicans voting against it. The House approved the measure last week.

Conferring as the clock winds down.David BrewsterStar TribuneSenate Majority Leader Dean Johnson, DFL-Willmar, nearly dared Pawlenty to veto the bill.

“Governor, get ready, it’s a-coming your way,” Johnson said shortly before the Senate vote.

DFLers argued that the increase in the gas tax is modest because it was last raised in 1988 and is needed to help fund neglected transportation operations and projects.

“Where do you think the money is going to come from?” Johnson asked other senators before the vote. “We’re going to have to make an investment. We have an opportunity to make a difference.”

Republicans said the gas tax is excessive and accused DFLers of political posturing.

“The governor’s been very clear from the beginning,” said Sen. Dave Kleis, R-St. Cloud. “He’s not going to sign a tax increase. This is an exercise in ... futility.”

Added Senate Minority Leader Dick Day, R-Owatonna: “We’re climbing on board on something that’s going no place.”

The expected veto would leave the Legislature little time to recraft a transportation bill before the regular session ends Monday.

Pawlenty’s own 10-year plan for roads and transit, which hasn’t advanced in either the House or Senate, calls for $7 billion in borrowing and shifts from the state general fund.

The bill the Senate approved was passed last week by the House on a 72-61 vote. It calls for more transportation spending and higher gasoline taxes than one the Senate had considered, which would have raised gas taxes by 7 cents a gallon and spent $5.8 billion over 10 years.

The bill that was adopted would provide $7.8 billion over 10 years and raise gas taxes by 10 cents a gallon, a move pushed by Rep. Ron Erhardt, R-Edina. He was one of 10 suburban GOP legislators to vote for the bill in the House.

The gas taxes would be phased in, with an initial 5-cent increase in June and another one a year later, and would ultimately bring in $320 million a year. The money would be split among trunk highways and county and city roads.

The bill also would transfer $95 million a year in sales taxes collected in the seven-county metropolitan area to transit—80 percent to the metro area, 20 percent to outstate—at the expense of the state general fund.

Overall, the metro area would receive $4.3 billion: $2.7 billion for highways and $1.6 billion for transit. Outstate Minnesota would receive $3.5 billion: $3.2 billion for highways and $249 million for transit.

Kleis said he opposed the bill because it would raise gas taxes from 20 cents a gallon to 30 cents at a time when gas is especially expensive. He said its impact would be hardest on lower- and middle-income Minnesotans. “A 50 percent increase in the gas tax is not the right thing to do,” he said.

Policy bill

In another transportation development Wednesday, the Senate passed a policy bill that would:

• Revoke for six months the licenses of drivers convicted of going more than 100 miles per hour, and for a longer period if the driver is drunk or fleeing a police officer.

• Allow police to stop and ticket drivers simply for failing to wear a seat belt. Currently, another violation must be noted to warrant a stop.

• Require that children under the age of 9 who weigh less than 80 pounds wear age-specific safety restraints in back seats or inside pickup trucks without back seats. Current restraint law applies only to children under 4.

• Repeal a state minimum price law for gasoline, now generally set at 8 cents above the retailer’s cost and intended to protect small service stations.

Similar provisions are absent from a House bill awaiting a floor vote.