Newspapers urge Minnesota lawmakers to pass a comprehensive, long-term transportation funding proposal
ST. PAUL, MN - In January, Governor Mark Dayton /governor/assets/transportation_overview_fact_sheet.pdf_tcm1055-91874.pdfproposed an honest, straightforward plan to fix Minnesota's aging and under-funded transportation system and build the infrastructure necessary to meet the demands of a growing population and an expanding state economy.
Since that time, Governor Dayton, Lt. Governor Tina Smith, and Minnesota Department of Transportation Commissioner Charlie Zelle have been traveling the state, talking to Minnesotans about the Governor's transportation proposal, and editorial boards agree - the time to act is now.
Below is what Minnesota editorial boards are saying about Minnesota's transportation funding needs.
The Time Is Now
"But this year is the time to act. Waiting just costs taxpayers that much more in the future."
- Mankato Free Press, January 9, 2015
"It's time for the Legislature and the governor to work and approve funding for a comprehensive transportation plan this session."
- Faribault Daily News, February 3, 2015
"The longer it takes to address these problems the more it will cost taxpayers."
- St. Cloud Times, February 9, 2015
"Minnesotans are losing money every minute we debate whether we need more adequate road funding. We know the answer. We do. [] These calls for more studies are thinly veiled excuses for groups and parties that don't want to face the hard realities of road funding. There is no way to do road funding on the cheap. The longer we wait, the more we will pay."
- Mankato Free Press, March 4, 2015
"The Legislature should pass a 10-year plan funded by efficient use of current resources, general fund appropriations and value capture mechanisms."
- Owatonna People's Press, February 2, 2015
"We need new jobs and we need better roads. Now, let's have a discussion about what other policymakers think are the state's needs and priorities and hear how they would fund them."
- International Falls Journal, February 24, 2015
The Need Is Real
"After all, one doesn't have to travel too far on Minnesota's roadways to know a substantial share of them need significant mending."
- Worthington Daily Globe, February 18, 2015
"The state's commerce and the personal safety of our citizens depend on quality roads, bridges and other transit modes. For the state to allow this system to deteriorate beyond repair is unconscionable."
- Brainerd Dispatch, January 9, 2015
"A bipartisan Legislature and Gov. Mark Dayton must come to real, stable, long-term funding plan to maintain what we have, reduce bottlenecks that cost business money and allow for expansion that fosters economic development."
- Mankato Free Press, January 9, 2015
"Forget party. For the good of motoring Minnesota; for the good of our state's bottom line; and for a future hinging on a transportation system that can get us around safely and efficiently and that can make our state attractive to new industry, new businesses and relocating families, constituents can demand compromise here. [] But some new taxes - just like some budget cuts and some surplus (if there's anything there) - almost certainly will be necessary."
- Duluth News Tribune, January 25, 2015
"It will take new money to pay for them. Those new funds should provide improvements in transit as well as highways and bridges, to serve a changing, aging population."
- Star Tribune, January 9, 2015
"There may be a time in the not-so-distant future when portions of Minnesota's transportation infrastructure become too unsafe to use. [] Maybe we're saddled by the classic psychological error of valuing short-term gains by shortchanging long-term change. Maybe what transportation advocates have long said is simply true: Roads just aren't sexy. Either way, it's too bad - and needs to change."
- Winona Daily News, January 9, 2015
"Finally something may be happening to get this expansion done - something that's been promised for years. Make that decades."
- Owatonna People's Press, February 19, 2015
"To pay for road repairs statewide, a combination of new taxes, belt-tightening and creativity promises to best serve all Minnesotans."
- Duluth News Tribune, February 26, 2015
"Raise your hand. Now, take it down if you think roads in Central Minnesota - and across the state - are fine, and there's really no need to increase funding for this important public infrastructure."
- St. Cloud Times, March 10, 2015
Governor Dayton Leads
"It's important to keep up with regular maintenance and repairs before little problems turn into big problems. Road patching and resurfacing, if left unattended, can become much more expensive road replacements. [] Gov. Mark Dayton is calling for staying on top these road repairs, and focusing effort on strategic expansions, like the Highway 14 project. We think Minnesotans want good roads, and are willing to pay the cost of building and maintaining them."
- New Ulm Journal, March 18, 2015
"Dayton and longtime businessman and transportation commissioner Charlie Zelle have stepped up to offer a plan. [] Dayton went further recently and detailed specific projects in an act of transparency. It's reasonable to see what people will get for their hard-earned tax dollars."
- Mankato Free Press, March 4, 2015
"We'll take that as a hopeful note - and add that Dayton's proposal is showing the way."
- Star Tribune, January 9, 2015
"Gov. Mark Dayton put his money where his mouth is on transportation funding when he released a county-by-county list of proposed projects in an unprecedented policy move aimed at building support for his plan. It's a good strategy, but it also clears the way for the necessary and critical debate about the future of the state's roads and bridges, the infrastructure where taxpayers have invested billions of dollars over the years. [] Dayton's list leads the way for an important debate. It's not any more political than it has been in the past, but it is more open."
- Mankato Free Press, February 17, 2015
"Collectively, the plan is Dayton's solution to the long-asked question of what can Minnesotans do to help their aging transportation system get caught up and even expand in some areas."
- St. Cloud Times, March 10, 2015
"Gov. Mark Dayton was pretty straightforward in talking about his $6 billion plan to begin fixing our roads and bridges. [] Still, we're glad to see there are numerous projects in Dayton's sights that, if approved, would impact us directly - three in Lincoln County, three in Lyon County, three in Murray County, one in Redwood County and four in Yellow Medicine County. Will these projects address all our concerns? Not by a long shot. But at least it's a start."
- Marshall Independent, February 19, 2015
"Finally. That's almost all that needs to be said about Wednesday's announcement by Gov. Mark Dayton and Transportation Commissioner Charlie Zelle about the governor's transportation finance proposal - a proposal that includes new investments that would allow for additional construction. Finally someone [Governor Dayton] started listening and paying attention to what was being said."
- Owatonna People's Press, February 19, 2015
"He's not only identified what he and the Minnesota Department of Transportation sees as needs by listing the roads that would see improvements under his plan, but he's also described how to pay for it in his plan."
- International Falls Journal, February 24, 2015
"Dayton is still wise to at least put forward the plan, even though control of the Minnesota Legislature is divided and Republicans seem unlikely to give it their consent. [] We can't help but look at Dayton's transportation plan as a way of getting an important conversation started."
- Worthington Daily Globe, February 18, 2015
Boards Urge the Legislature to Act
"That's why the Legislature needs to act. The governor is offering his solution. Republicans now must do the same so the process toward compromise can commence."
- St. Cloud Times, March 10, 2015
"The GOP also would put $200 million of the state's projected $1 billion surplus in the next two years into local - not state - roads and bridges. That's roughly equivalent to the cost of one new highway bridge in Greater Minnesota. [] Those might be good ideas, but they're also short-lived and skimpy, adding up, by the GOP tally, to $750 million over four years. [] But to build and sustain massive infrastructure and to meet the needs of the whole state, lawmakers won't "get real" until they look beyond the next two years to the next two decades."
- Star Tribune, January 9, 2015
"Doing "something small" instead would put off a problem that's only growing worse and more expensive [] No one on the campaign trail or in St. Paul ever questioned the great need. [] If Simonson is right and this year's transportation bill is modest and small, Minnesota ends up with a failure of leadership."
- Duluth News Tribune, February 24, 2015
"Talk about studying a problem to death. How much more taxpayer money are we going to spend looking at another study? The bipartisan transportation advisory committee spent hours detailing the need and coming up with a credible plan months ago."
- Mankato Free Press, March 4, 2015
"Republicans, especially those controlling the House, must put forth this session their long-term vision for how Minnesota is to maintain and, where needed, expand this important public infrastructure. The GOP House plan offered in the session's opening days does not do that."
- St. Cloud Times, March 10, 2015
"And it's not just the Minnesota Legislature that needs to step up. All of the Winona examples noted above - the bridge, the interstate, the highway - are funded and maintained by a combination of state and federal dollars."
- Winona Daily News, January 9, 2015
"The Republicans' desire to use existing surplus dollars and find efficiencies in current spending also has merit, even though it fails to look too far into the futureAnd as the funding continues to be discussed, we hope all the lawmakers from southeast Minnesota will step up and put an end to any questions about their dedication to improving Highway 14."
- Rochester Post-Bulletin, January 13, 2015
"Just as frustratingly, House Republicans have supported finding all the transportation funding through cuts to existing programs and spending."
- Duluth News Tribune, February 26, 2015
About Governor Dayton's Transportation Proposal
Governor Dayton has proposed a straightforward, honest solution to fix Minnesota's aging transportation systems. The Governor's plan would invest $6 billion over the next ten years to address the state's highway funding deficit, invest $2.356 billion in local government transportation projects, and provide $2.92 billion for Metro and Greater Minnesota transit systems.
Without these new investments, road and bridge conditions across Minnesota will only continue to get worse. If the state does nothing, over the next ten years: the number of road miles in poor condition will increase by 75 percent; an estimated 640 bridges (1 in 5 bridges statewide) will deteriorate into poor condition; and nearly 40 percent of all state roadways will surpass their useful life.
To learn more about Governor Dayton's proposal, click on the links below:
/governor/assets/transportation_county_projects_fact_sheet.pdf_tcm1055-91875.pdfList of Projects - Statewide list of projects that would be completed over the next ten years if the transportation proposal is passed.
News Release - Read the news release from the Governor's transportation proposal announcement.
/governor/assets/transportation_plan_fact_sheet.pdf_tcm1055-91876.pdfHow it Works - Read about how the plan would be funded.
/governor/assets/transportation_overview_fact_sheet.pdf_tcm1055-91874.pdfFact Sheet - Get all the facts on the challenges facing our transportation system, and how the Governor's proposed investments would address those challenges.
/governor/assets/transportation_investments_snapshot.pdf_tcm1055-91877.pdfLocal Funding Increases - Learn how much funding each city and county would receive under the Governor's transportation proposal.
/governor/assets/transportation_maps.pdf_tcm1055-91878.pdfMaps - Take a look at the transportation projects that would be funded, by region.
