It was a rocky trip for U.S. Highway 14 and transportation advocates at the Minnesota Legislature this year, and it’s not over yet. It’s May 31; this post should be a legislative wrap-up, but it’s not. We are awaiting a decision by Governor Dayton whether to call a special session. Even the issues are still up in the air: a special session may be held to fix the bonding bill (which contains funding for Highway 14), or it may be broad enough to address comprehensive transportation funding.
Post-session, both the House and Senate have talked about specific dollar amounts for U.S. Highway 14 in the bonding bill. However, the language of the bill and the accompanying spreadsheet do not include those specific amounts. Instead, there is a cash appropriation for Corridors of Commerce for $199.5 million and a list of designated project that includes U.S. Highway 14 New Ulm to Nicollet and Owatonna to Dodge Center.
If there is a special session, the Partnership will seek clarification of these provisions in the bill.
How did we get here?
The 11-week regular legislative session began March 8. The transportation conference committee remained intact and deadlocked on how to fund our state’s $7 billion road and bridge funding needs as well as the future of Twin Cities’ mass transit. The conference committee met a few times over the course of the session, but nothing was accomplished.
On May 16, tired of delays, Governor Dayton proposed two funding compromises. One proposal had a 5 cent gas tax increase raising $150M/year plus a $250M/year tab fee increase and $200M/year in general fund money for roads. The second proposal had $400M/year in tab fee increases and $200M/year in general fund spending.
This triggered some meetings of the conference committee, but they still did not reach agreement. Two issues stopped them—whether to raise new revenues for roads or rely on transferring existing general fund money and whether to fund the Southwest light rail project and other metro transit needs.
Talks continued up to the last minutes of the regular session. Rumors flew around the Capitol about some kind of transportation package. It turned out that one-time money for transportation was part of the bonding bill negotiations. With 20 minutes to go in the regular session, the House introduced the compromise bonding bill. This bill included $199.5 million for Corridors of Commerce and a designated list of projects, including U.S. Highway 14 Nicollet to New Ulm and Owatonna to Dodge Center.
The bonding bill passed the House and went to the Senate. There, Senators amended the bill to include a provision to help the Southwest light rail. There was no time to reconcile the House and Senate versions—when the bill came back to the House they had already adjourned.
The Governor alone has the power to call a special session. He has indicated that he will not do so without agreement to a specific agenda. There is no news about negotiations, and we await his decision.