Veteran House lawmaker Bob Gunther is so totally convinced that the final conflaguration in Minnesota pits the pastoral splendors of Martin County and its neighbors with the decadent masses huddled in the Twin Cities metro.
Maybe not that hike in local government aid (LGA). Or more money for schools.
Jenn Brookens reports for the Fairmont Sentinel in Gunther gives legislative review:
Gunther stated some good came out of the session, such as an increase for schools and in county aid, but he still sees a battle between the metro area and the rural areas of Minnesota.
"Everything that happened was advantage Metro," Gunther said. "I find we're fighting that more every year."
Everything, he tells the board. Take those taxes to pay for the stadium he voted for last session:
Gunther also voiced displeasure with the gasoline and tobacco taxes.
"That's more chasing over the border," Gunther said, citing a good portion of Minnesota's population lives close to a bordering state. "Now some of that tax is going to the Viking stadium. ... The last thing I wanted was taxpayers paying for a stadium. If I knew that was going to happen, I wouldn't have voted for it."
Well then: sounds like more of a bit of buyer's remorse than a metro problem.
And raise the gas tax? It might go it the metro area, where more Minnesotans live and to light rail. Alas, Gunther confuses commuter rail for light rail:
. . . .much of the funds will go to the metro area, including the light rail systems."We pay for those trains up there," Gunther said. "Have we gotten a thank-you note? I've seen that North Star one going up with absolutely no one on it. It's a 100-percent loss."
North Star is commuter rail. Light rail, on the other hand, is doing fairly well, according to 2012 ridership figures released by Metro Transit:
At 10,498,236, ridership on the Hiawatha Light-Rail line is the highest recorded since the line’s 2004 opening.
“We’re particularly grateful to our customers and proud to achieve this benchmark in a year that included the longest service disruption in Hiawatha’s eight-year history,” said Lamb.
In February, rail operations on a portion of the line were interrupted for a work week as crews stabilized a compromised pedestrian bridge that passes over Highway 55 and the Hiawatha Line near Lake Street / Midtown Station.
Average weekday ridership on the Hiawatha Line exceeds projections for the year 2020 by nearly 30 percent.
But no thank you note. Perhaps metro readers could send Gunther a few if that's all it takes.
Gunther also doesn't share that metro transit advocates didn't get what they'd asked for either. The transportation bill is widely considered a "lights on" measure. MPR reported in Status-quo transportation bill disappoints transit advocates:
Minnesota lawmakers this session passed a "lights-on" transportation bill, which does not include either a gas tax increase or a metro sales tax increase for transit. . . .
The bill passed by the Senate would have raised and expanded the existing quarter-cent metro tax by a half-cent to help pay for transit. It would also have increased the gas tax by five cents for roads and bridges. But that plan was dropped in light of Gov. Mark Dayton's opposition to raising the gas tax. . . .
The bill includes $130 million over the next two years for Met Council transit operations, $300 million in trunk highway bonding for roads across the state, and more money for outstate transit. It also includes $95 million in one-time money for Minnesota Department of Transportation road and pedestrian improvements. . . .
Despite the DFL majority in the House, Senate and governor's office, many rural lawmakers could not support more funding for metro-area transit unless the Legislature also passed an increase for roads, Beard said.
And then there was a new matching fund program for rural Minnesota along with more school and county aid:
But Gunther attempted to counter the downside with the news of increases in school funds, county program aid and a new capitol investment improvements project, which counties can apply for with bonding proposals if they have matching funds.
But everything went totally to the metro.
Photo: Bob Gunther arguing for a storm water project for Truman.
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