Our friend the Political Muse up at Liberal in Land of Conservative keeps a project called MNMuseTube, at which he highlights the floor speeches of Democratic members of the Minnesota Congressional Delegation.
Yesterday, he posted the YouTube above of Congressman Walz speaking about the amendment that the Winona Daily News said would:
. . .require the Secretary of Transportation to report to Congress whether a federal-aid bridge is closed because of a critical inspection finding.
The report, which would be due 15 days after a bridge closure, would assess and recommend actions to mitigate the impact of the closure on the local economy and transportation patterns, Walz spokeswoman Meredith Salsbery said.
About 1:41 minutes in Walz reaches for a framed copy of the Minnesota Statehood stamp featuring the marvelous photo of the Highway 43 Bridge. The stamp was issued on May 16, and the bridge was closed in early June when a bridge inspector had her hammer go through a corroded gusset plate. The bridge reopened to passenger vehicles on July 10, while semis started using the bridge again on July 21.
While the bridge was closed, the 28,000 people who used the bridge daily faced 70 mile commutes. The city of Winona set up a temporary ferry service for the estimated 2500+ people who commute to work in Wisconsin; MPR reported the service cost the city a extra $85,000 per week. Businesses, too, suffered losses with the closing.
The amendment will help mitigate the impact of such unexpected costs on cities where bridges are suddenly closed.
Some congressional candidates use silly postage stamp analogies, while others can't even place stamps on envelopes. Walz's pairing of the statehood stamp with the bridge closing gets our stamp of approval.
Note: Speaking of costs, the Muse has a bleg going on through August 10; if you appreciate his service and have some spare coin, head over and chip in..
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