Lessons...

Minnesota is not the only state dealing with the high cost of road repairs.

We are faced with some sobering realities:

* Between 1990 and 2007 Utah experienced a 47.5 percent increase in population growth.

* During that same period of time, travel on Utah roads, measured in vehicle miles traveled on our roads (VMT), increased 78.5 percent.

* During those same years the State added only 4.2 percent more capacity to the highway system to accommodate this explosion of growth.

So what does this mean? In a word: congestion.

To exacerbate the problem:

* Since 2000 UDOT construction costs have increased 91 percent. In fact, recent reports show that steel has increased again by another 30 percent in the past few weeks alone.

* Funding for transportation was raided beginning 2001 when we experienced a downturn in the economy in order to keep public education funding whole. It took the legislature several years to bring funding levels back to pre-downturn totals. But demand for roads and the cost of construction outpaced our capacity to meet the demand several times over leaving us far behind.

However, unlike their Minnesota counterparts, the Utah Legislature is looking at ways outside of raising the gas tax to make up the shortfall in funding.

So what steps have we taken without raising taxes?

* We looked internally for other funding options within existing budgets. We found that between 10 to 20 percent of the revenue from sales tax within the state came from auto related sales (car sales, tires, oil changes, etc). Many of us in the Legislature felt that these tax dollars should be earmarked for roads and so we pushed legislation through to capture this money. It is in place today.

* We are looking at ways to focus economic development in areas where the transportation system in unbalanced. In Northern Utah I-15 is a log jam southbound to SLC in the AM and the opposite in the afternoon leaving half the system underutilized. When placing incentives for economic development we, as a legislature, need to be conscious of balancing the transportation system and encouraging job growth closer to where people live.

Emphasis mine. What a radical thought....moving the jobs to where the people are! Note the difference between what they are doing (encouraging development where the people are) there and what we are doing here - punishing drivers by raising the cost of licensing and driving and owning a car and forcing people into light rail corridors. Instead of tightening government control on the voting public, the Utah legislature is actually solving a problem while maintaining freedoms! That is outside the box thinking!

There are other ways of relieving congestion that require the assistance and cooperation of the business community. By offering staggered start times to employees (thus reducint the number of cars on the road all trying to get somewhere by 8am) or allowing staff to telecommute, you can reduce the number of cars on the road (thus reducing congestion AND greenhouse gas emissions). Offering tax incentives to businesses so that they can purchase the necessary equipment to allow telecommuting (you do need special voice and data equipment that maintains the security of your communications) you can encourage more businesses to think outside the box as well. Enlist the business community in the solution. THEY are the ones that know what their needs are and what the solutions to those needs are!

These are lessons that the Minnesota Legislature can learn Utah colleagues. This is the kind of forward thinking that our Founding Fathers used to make this great country.

That and how cool is it that the Utah State House and Senate have their own blogs! What a way to engage the electorate!