Minnesota's Bridge to Somewhere...Please Send Money
I yield the floor to Logical Lady - Sue Jeffers
Dear Congressman Oberstar,
In your Tribune Counter Point comments on Oct. 26 you stated it is “unfathomable to not be moved to act decisively” after the tragedy of the bridge collapse. Well, what are you waiting for?
On August 6 President Bush signed your bill to authorize $250 million in emergency transportation aid and $5 million in transit funding assistance to MN for the collapse of the 35W Bridge. MN needs the remaining $195 million promised immediately. Three months later MN is still waiting for the federal funding while behind the scenes state Democrats continue to play politics with state DOT funding.
As chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee you stated traffic congestion in our metro area is costing the state economy $1.1 billion per year and commuters waste 43 hours and 30 gallons of gas just sitting in congestion. The bridge collapse has significantly compounded these problems in the north metro.As Chairman you know far too often politicians choose to spend our tax dollars on pork instead of priorities. You know we have a Highway trust fund, which gas taxes and other funds are to be deposited. These funds are most often not used for their stated purpose but added to the general fund for spending on pet projects including bike paths and light rail transit. You know our bridge money is tied up in an incredibly expensive transportation bill, so loaded with pork that President Bush is threatening to again veto it. It also includes $250,000 for more bike paths in your district.
As Chairman you know the Federal Highway Administration reported of the 594,000 bridges in the US, about 73,500 (12%) are structurally deficient. These bridges need significant rehabilitation, maintenance or replacement. As Chairman you know the Congressional Budget office reports infrastructure spending has accounted for about 3% of the total federal expenditures since 1987 and will continue to be so through 2009.
Voters still remember the 2005 Transportation Bill, over $286 billion including 6373 earmarks that totaled $24 billion. This bill also included the infamous Bridge to Nowhere, the $223 million bridge in rural Alaska. Rather than fund roads and bridges, your priorities included $16million for MN bike paths and $120 million for your district’s transportation projects and $600 million to encourage kids to walk or bike. Another $3 billion was for earmarked for bicycle and pedestrian projects.
Congressman, your solution, to further punish Minnesota drivers, low income families, farmers, truckers and small businesses who rely on low transportation costs, is raising the gas tax. The public has, in large numbers, clearly stated that we oppose a gas tax increase. How about an explanation as to why the gas tax revenue is so poorly spent?
Congressman, as Chair and a representative for the people of Minnesota we need to know road and bridge safety funding is your priority. We do not need additional gas or other taxes. Federal and state monies must be spent first and foremost on infrastructure including road and bridge safety.
Transportation priorities should include safety, congestion and pollution, not light rail transit (LRT). As chairman you already know light rail transit does not eliminate congestion. LRT can not follow population or job growth and can never compete with the automobile of which 92% of us drive. LRT can not move goods and services or create economic growth. LRT is one of the most expensive and lowest return use of our transportation dollars. The Minnesota Department of Economic Development reports that only 2.8% of the state's commuters ride buses or rail to get to work, yet these projects get up to 25% of the funding.
MN is far from broke, our general fund has grown by over $2 billion in each of the last two budget cycles. Currently it is a whopping $34.5 billion in a state of 5 million people. MN started the year with a record $2 billion budget surplus, and a good economy added another $200 million of unexpected revenue. In recent years over $2 billion in potential funding has been diverted from road and bridge repair to the state’s light (and heavy) rail projects. Higher taxes will not make our roads and bridges safer if we don't spend the money on roads and bridges.
About the only thing both sides can agree on is that in spite of increased budgets, MnDOT has a significant backlog of road and bridge maintenance and expansion projects. Year after year legislators continue fund pork instead of bridges and roads. Money is not spent on roads and bridges but to art centers, zoos, sports stadiums and welfare benefits.
The MN gas tax is accurately called a user fee with 100% of the proceeds constitutionally dedicated to the Highway Trust Fund, meaning that the funds are not used to supplement the general fund or even to pay for mass transit. Ditto for license plate tabs fees. Unfortunately for the last 25 years the Motor Vehicle Sales Tax (MVST) has been raided to supplement the general fund. Federal funding has also been directed away from bridges and roads.
Starting in 2012 the MVST will be 100% dedicated to transportation, the amendment passed in November 2006 has a goofy 60-40 formula for dividing money between roads and mass transit. It could be legally used entirely for mass transit. If history repeats itself, we can count on even more funding to be re-routed to mass transit instead of funding roads and bridges.
Minnesotans are very generous; we are one of the highest taxed states in the nation. Projects are, literally or figuratively, collapsing around us while Minnesotans wait for the promised federal funding. So while we are busy here trying to get our state legislators to make roads and bridges priorities please do your job and send our federal bridge money.
Sincerely,
Sue Jeffers
Dear Congressman Oberstar,
In your Tribune Counter Point comments on Oct. 26 you stated it is “unfathomable to not be moved to act decisively” after the tragedy of the bridge collapse. Well, what are you waiting for?
On August 6 President Bush signed your bill to authorize $250 million in emergency transportation aid and $5 million in transit funding assistance to MN for the collapse of the 35W Bridge. MN needs the remaining $195 million promised immediately. Three months later MN is still waiting for the federal funding while behind the scenes state Democrats continue to play politics with state DOT funding.
As chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee you stated traffic congestion in our metro area is costing the state economy $1.1 billion per year and commuters waste 43 hours and 30 gallons of gas just sitting in congestion. The bridge collapse has significantly compounded these problems in the north metro.As Chairman you know far too often politicians choose to spend our tax dollars on pork instead of priorities. You know we have a Highway trust fund, which gas taxes and other funds are to be deposited. These funds are most often not used for their stated purpose but added to the general fund for spending on pet projects including bike paths and light rail transit. You know our bridge money is tied up in an incredibly expensive transportation bill, so loaded with pork that President Bush is threatening to again veto it. It also includes $250,000 for more bike paths in your district.
As Chairman you know the Federal Highway Administration reported of the 594,000 bridges in the US, about 73,500 (12%) are structurally deficient. These bridges need significant rehabilitation, maintenance or replacement. As Chairman you know the Congressional Budget office reports infrastructure spending has accounted for about 3% of the total federal expenditures since 1987 and will continue to be so through 2009.
Voters still remember the 2005 Transportation Bill, over $286 billion including 6373 earmarks that totaled $24 billion. This bill also included the infamous Bridge to Nowhere, the $223 million bridge in rural Alaska. Rather than fund roads and bridges, your priorities included $16million for MN bike paths and $120 million for your district’s transportation projects and $600 million to encourage kids to walk or bike. Another $3 billion was for earmarked for bicycle and pedestrian projects.
Congressman, your solution, to further punish Minnesota drivers, low income families, farmers, truckers and small businesses who rely on low transportation costs, is raising the gas tax. The public has, in large numbers, clearly stated that we oppose a gas tax increase. How about an explanation as to why the gas tax revenue is so poorly spent?
Congressman, as Chair and a representative for the people of Minnesota we need to know road and bridge safety funding is your priority. We do not need additional gas or other taxes. Federal and state monies must be spent first and foremost on infrastructure including road and bridge safety.
Transportation priorities should include safety, congestion and pollution, not light rail transit (LRT). As chairman you already know light rail transit does not eliminate congestion. LRT can not follow population or job growth and can never compete with the automobile of which 92% of us drive. LRT can not move goods and services or create economic growth. LRT is one of the most expensive and lowest return use of our transportation dollars. The Minnesota Department of Economic Development reports that only 2.8% of the state's commuters ride buses or rail to get to work, yet these projects get up to 25% of the funding.
MN is far from broke, our general fund has grown by over $2 billion in each of the last two budget cycles. Currently it is a whopping $34.5 billion in a state of 5 million people. MN started the year with a record $2 billion budget surplus, and a good economy added another $200 million of unexpected revenue. In recent years over $2 billion in potential funding has been diverted from road and bridge repair to the state’s light (and heavy) rail projects. Higher taxes will not make our roads and bridges safer if we don't spend the money on roads and bridges.
About the only thing both sides can agree on is that in spite of increased budgets, MnDOT has a significant backlog of road and bridge maintenance and expansion projects. Year after year legislators continue fund pork instead of bridges and roads. Money is not spent on roads and bridges but to art centers, zoos, sports stadiums and welfare benefits.
The MN gas tax is accurately called a user fee with 100% of the proceeds constitutionally dedicated to the Highway Trust Fund, meaning that the funds are not used to supplement the general fund or even to pay for mass transit. Ditto for license plate tabs fees. Unfortunately for the last 25 years the Motor Vehicle Sales Tax (MVST) has been raided to supplement the general fund. Federal funding has also been directed away from bridges and roads.
Starting in 2012 the MVST will be 100% dedicated to transportation, the amendment passed in November 2006 has a goofy 60-40 formula for dividing money between roads and mass transit. It could be legally used entirely for mass transit. If history repeats itself, we can count on even more funding to be re-routed to mass transit instead of funding roads and bridges.
Minnesotans are very generous; we are one of the highest taxed states in the nation. Projects are, literally or figuratively, collapsing around us while Minnesotans wait for the promised federal funding. So while we are busy here trying to get our state legislators to make roads and bridges priorities please do your job and send our federal bridge money.
Sincerely,
Sue Jeffers
Labels: 35W Bridge collapse, US Congress
posted by The Lady Logician at
11:12 AM
2 Comments:
I just wish people would quit complaining about the "Alaska bridge to nowhere" as if it made no sense at all. It does. I've been there many times as a tourist, and often wished there were an easy way to get across to the island. Such a bridge would be an economic boon to the area, particularly to the island's inhabitants, as they would see tourist dollars being spent on both sides of the channel. And of course the city airport is on the island. It's fair to criticize the large cost and grand plan for the bridge (I don't think it needs to be 4-lane, only downtown main street is, and wouldn't need to be). But let's concentrate on the fact that, of all the State and Federal money spent on "transportation" in the last ten years, 98% of the people have gotten only about 50% of the money that THEY paid for transportation. Surely that is enough of an outrage?
J. Ewing
By
Anonymous, at 12:32 PM
You tell 'em, Sue!
By
Dan, at 4:02 PM
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