Steve Murphy: Honestly, enough with the gas tax falsehoods

Let's set the record straight on last session's plan -- and on a few other things as well.

By Steve Murphy

Last update: October 26, 2007 - 6:15 PM

In a recent column ("Pointing fingers and clawing at our wallets," Oct. 22), Jason Lewis accuses me of politicizing the Interstate 35W bridge collapse. His assertion is fundamentally false.

A simple news search proves that after the bridge collapse, I declined to assign culpability. I've never explicitly blamed the governor or lieutenant governor for this tragedy, but I've stated that years of underfunding our transportation infrastructure has contributed to its degradation. I've called upon our leaders to have the courage to publicly support the increased transportation revenue needed to ensure that our roads and bridges are safe. By the Minnesota Department of Transportation's own accounts, our transportation system is underfunded by $2.4 billion a year. This is not my politics; it's fact from the department.

Lewis accuses me of pushing the gas tax to 40 cents a gallon to pay for my local highway projects. The state Senate initially passed a 10-cent increase and indexed the gas tax for inflation, as is done in several other states. This bill also included a gas tax surcharge to pay the debt on trunk highway bonds. This is a fiscally responsible mechanism that pays for the excessive transportation borrowing advocated by this administration. This surcharge would have exclusively paid debt service, not rural transportation projects.

More important, Lewis neglects to mention the widely supported compromise legislation that was vetoed by the governor. It included a 5-cent gas tax increase, was not indexed for inflation and capped the debt service surcharge at 2.5 cents, making the maximum gas tax increase a moderate 7.5 cents.

Another inaccuracy: Our gas tax does not fund transit projects. Minnesota's Constitution dedicates gas tax dollars to the Highway User Distribution Fund. If Lewis knew how broke MnDOT truly is, he would know that Lt. Gov. Carol Molnau proposes violating the Constitution by taking gas tax dollars from the County State Aid Highway and Municipal State Aid accounts to secure federal funding for the Northstar commuter-rail project.

He claims the new constitutional amendment dedicating the motor vehicle sales tax to transportation could be spent entirely on transit. Had he paid attention to the legislative session, he would have known the transportation bill signed into law dedicated 60 percent of those revenues to roads and bridges and 40 percent to transit.

In short, Lewis uses myths and scare tactics to persuade the public that there are no transportation needs. Pitting roads against transit and the metro against rural areas is nothing new, but truth must prevail. Minnesotans deserve safe roads and bridges. I will continue to advocate a comprehensive transportation package until safety is guaranteed.

On a personal note, Lewis recently claimed I have never worked a day in my life. Lewis moderated a political debate in Red Wing where he introduced me as "a former United States Marine and 20-year employee of Northern States Power Company." Obviously he forgot.

Steve Murphy, DFL-Red Wing, is a member of the Minnesota Senate.

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