True North

Brian McClung, Gov. Pawlenty's spokesman, is predicting a bumpy road ahead for DFLers who are thinking about voting for the latest major DFL tax increase. Sen. Dave Senjem is thinking the same thing.

A collision between the two parties might be unavoidable. GOP Senate Minority Leader Dave Senjem of Rochester said Democratic leaders have signaled a plan to introduce essentially the same transportation funding bill Pawlenty vetoed last time around.

"I'll be curious about which legislator, especially in the House of Representatives, when they're up for re-election in about nine months, if they're going to raise their hands and put the jumper cables to the wallets of Minnesotans and give them a big shock," McClung said.

Mr. McClung is asking the right question. I've said before that it's time that Gov. Pawlenty & GOP legislators started pointing out all the tax increases that DFL legislators are voting for. I think it's also worthwhile to ask how the taxpayer's money is benefiting them.

I've coined a phrase that I'm using anytime I'm talking about the DFL's transportation strategy. I'm calling it the 'My way or no highways' approach to fixing Minnesota's roads & bridges. As long as there's a CPI adjustment provision in the transportation bill, there's zero chance of Gov. Pawlenty signing it. As long as there's a CPI adjustment provision in the transportation bill, there's zero chance that the House GOP team won't sustain Gov. Pawlenty's veto.

Here's Dan Severson's take on the bill:

Rep. Dan Severson, R-Sauk Rapids, said he hasn't been approached on that level, but he didn't seem happy with the way the bill left the House Transportation Finance Division he serves on this week.

Key Republican amendments that went unheeded would have reduced the amount of gas tax revenue that could go to bike trails by $91 million and required voter-approved referenda if counties outside the Twin Cities metro area want to join in on the transit sales tax increase, instead of allowing county boards to make the call.

Severson also said indexing the gas tax will have to go if there's any hope of drawing Republican support to the bill.

As I've said before, the thought of automatic tax increases without voting for them disgusts me. If the DFL wants to raise taxes, they should be forced to defend those increases each time they face the voters. Here's the part that should raise the taxpayers' red flags:

"Sometimes, we just need a jump-start," said DFL House Speaker Margaret Anderson-Kelliher. "We are ready to put Minnesotans back to work."

Anderson-Kelliher couldn't say how many jobs the combined bills would produce, but said she hopes it at least would make up for the 23,000 jobs the state lost in the last several months. The state needs to do its part to kick-start a construction industry where scores of workers risk losing their jobs because of a "dried up" housing and condo market, she said.

It doesn't sound like Speaker Kelliher is confident that any jobs will be created with their plan. As I said earlier in this post, taxpayers should be demanding an accounting of what their taxes are buying them. They have a right to know if their money is being wasted or if it's being used efficiently.

Based on Speaker Kelliher's evasive answer, I'd say that taxpayers shouldn protest their money being spent on the DFL's wish & a prayer plan.

Pawlenty's priorities also differ with Democrats on the makeup of the public works bill, which authorizes selling bonds for major construction projects. The governor's legislation commits a record 40 percent of the funding to transportation infrastructure projects. But in the process, it squeezes out funding for local projects like those favored in Rochester. Going into the session, Rochester leaders hoped to secure partial state funding for its $70 million renovation of Mayo Civic Center.

Which Minnesotan doesn't think that fixing the roads rates as a higher priority than other items on the bonding bill? I'm not saying that renovating the Mayo Civic Center shouldn't be funded. Frankly, I don't know if it's a worthwhile expenditure. I'll leave that to the legislators & Gov. Pawlenty. All I'm saying is that bonding bills shouldn't be treated like a rich kid's Christmas wish list.

That money should be spent with caution, too.

Comments welcome at Let Freedom Ring.