(ST. PAUL, MN) – On Tuesday the Senate Transportation Committee heard legislation that seeks to increase funding towards the state’s transportation budget, without raising taxes. Senator Mark Johnson (R-East Grand Forks) released the following statement in support of the bill.

“Minnesotans have a constitutional duty to maintain our state’s road and bridge infrastructure,” said Senator Johnson. “This bill will allow us to properly fund our necessary transportation infrastructure without raising taxes. Improvements in our highway infrastructure will be fundamental to the future economic success of our state.”

Under current law, every year a flat amount of $145.644 million is taken from the auto parts sales tax and given to the Highway Users Tax Distribution Fund (HUTDF). This HUTDF funding supports highways, roads, and streets across the state. This bill would adjust that amount to 60% of auto parts sales tax funds, so that the Transportation fund continues to grow over time. 54% of funding would go to HUTDF, 3% would go to the Small Cities Account, and 3% would go to the Townships Road Account.

Also included in this bill as amended is the creation of the Township Road Improvement Account, which allows towns to apply for grants or loans from MnDOT, which must then work with townships to create a criterion for which projects would be selected based on the availability of funding, the effectiveness of the project, the amount of people positively impacted, the project’s contribution to local and regional economic development, and the ability for the town to provide maintenance.

“Our small cities and towns have a right to transportation funding. I want to make sure large cities in the metro do not take all the transportation dollars from Greater Minnesota,” said Johnson. “Our townships and small cities need to be at the table.”