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Republican's tax-free substitute highway plan stalls
An attempt by Republican House Minority Leader Marty Seifert to off a "tax-free" substitute to the DFL transportation package failed to gain any traction Wednesday. Representative Seifert's plan, unlike the Democrats' bill, would carry no fuel tax hike or increases in license tab fees for new vehicles. It would also be devoid of a half-cent metro sales tax for mass transit, another major pillar in that $7.8 billion spending proposal. "We've got 40 days and 40 nights of session left and we're kind of wandering in the desert of tax increases," Seifert told reports, making an Old Testament reference. "Instead of worshiping at the golden calf of lots of tax increases that are unpopular with the people of Minnesota, let's sit down and work out a compromise, because these particular tax increases are not acceptable to the people of Minnesota." Seifert's $7.6 billion version would be largely financed through general obligation bonds, which are repaid from the general fund. That fund currently is devoted largely to the state's core programs such as schools and health care. The Seifert bill would also feature a constitutional amendment, submitted to the voters, allowing Minnesotans to earmark part of the state's general bonding bill to highways and bridges for the next 25 years. Traditionally those bonding packages are dedicated to building large structures, often on college campuses. Bonding is the only way the state can legally borrow money, because the two-year budget must be balanced. Minnesota can't run a deficit the way the federal government does. Frank Hornstein, a Minneapolis Democrat who chairs the transit subcommittee in the House, said many efforts have been made to compromise with opponents of the bill. "We made significant compromises with this. It's a modest, moderate way to address the very significant needs in our state that were outlined yesterday in the Legislative Auditor's report," Hornstein remarked. For instance a controversial automatic inflation-adjustment feature, known as gas tax indexing, was removed in committee. "I thought that auditor's report was a stinging indictment of our lack of investment in roads, bridges and transit. And tomorrow we're going to do something about it." The DFL package still includes a nickel per gallon boost in the gasoline tax effective this year, followed by another three and a half cent surcharge to be added in the future in order to pay off annual debt on highway bonds. Wednesday afternoon Seifert introduced his version of the plan, known technically as a "minority report," on the House floor. His fellow lawmakers decided to table it, in a voice vote which left no formal tally. The full House and Senate will debate and vote on their transportation bills Thursday, with the goal to get them to Governor Tim Pawlenty's desk before next week. Pawlenty already vetoed a similar package last year, and a last-minute override attempt failed on the fight night of the 2007 session. Most of the buzz at the Capitol this week has focused on whether the Democrats can convince enough of last year's opponents to join them in an override this year.
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