Transportation bill includes special funding for small cities and townships

By: Senator John Jasinski

As the vice chairman of the transportation committee, rebuilding roads and bridges has been one of my big focuses during my time in the Senate. As you know, the highway 14 expansion from Dodge Center to Owatonna was my number one priority when I first ran for office, and I’m proud to say we got it done in my first term.

There are still a lot of roads and bridges around the state that need work, particularly in the small cities and townships that often get overlooked.

On May 1, the Minnesota Senate approved a comprehensive transportation bill that will provide more than $5.7 billion in transportation funding, including more than $4.32 billion specifically for roads and bridges over the next five years. It does not raise a cent of gas taxes, sales taxes, or license tab fees. 

So how did we invest so much in transportation without raising taxes? Simple: we dedicate 100% of revenue from existing auto parts sales taxes to roads and bridges. It is our top transportation priority this year.

The bill even includes legislation I developed to provide special, dedicated funding to those small cities and townships. Folks in Greater Minnesota have unique transportation needs. Setting aside a portion of auto parts sales tax revenue will help us be sure that these communities get the support they need for their road and bridge projects.

The bill also includes legislation I authored to get the state patrol new helicopters and airplanes. The state patrol’s current fleet of helicopters and airplanes is nearing the end of its useful life. The transportation bill provides $45.1 million to purchase three new helicopters and three new airplanes for the state patrol so they can continue safely performing critical functions like search and rescue operations, tracking carjackers and criminal pursuits, and transporting blood and organs in emergencies.

Funding for the Owatonna Learn to Earn 

We all are aware of the severe shortage of police officers that departments around the state are facing, and businesses everywhere are struggling to find workers. Our higher education bill addresses both of those issues, so we can get more skilled law enforcement officers on the streets and train the next generation of workers for high-demand careers.

The bill included two key components I authored:

• It provides funding for the Owatonna Learn to Earn Coalition, which is a partnership of the Owatonna School District, the Owatonna Area Chamber of Commerce and Tourism, and Riverland Community College that aims to help Owatonna and Steele County recruit and retain talented workers.

• It expands workforce scholarships to include law enforcement careers. Across the nation, law enforcement positions are opening up faster than they can be replaced by retirement or resignation. The Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Board Job page shows a remarkable number of openings for licensed peace officers across the state. Minneapolis and St. Paul alone have hundreds of open law enforcement positions to fill and the Chief of Police in Duluth called the shortage a crisis.  It provides $14.5 million for workforce development scholarships, including 7,500,000 that must be used for scholarships to students enrolled in a law enforcement program of study. 

Contact me

If you have any questions about these issues or anything else we are working on at the legislature, feel free to contact me any time at sen.john.jasinski@senate.mn or 651-296-0284. It is a privilege to serve you!

John