politics

Minnesota legislators set the course Monday for a historic showdown with Gov. Tim Pawlenty, approving a transportation bill that features a gas-tax increase and other revenue hikes that would cost a typical three-car family in the Twin Cities between $250 and $500 a year.

The bill -- which raises $6.4 billion in new taxes and fees over 10 years -- passed on bipartisan votes barely strong enough to override Pawlenty's promised veto.

Though they have lacked the political muscle to even attempt to override a Pawlenty veto during his four-plus years in office, DFLers voiced guarded optimism that this time they'll have enough Republican backing to succeed with an override vote.

"We're going to be OK on an override," said Rep. Bernie Lieder, DFL-Crookston, chief author of the bill, House File 946. "There are people twisting arms all right. The governor's going to put pressure, too."

In all, 11 Republicans in the House and Senate voted for the bill, which provides $8.3 billion for increased spending on roads, bridges and transit across the state. But some of the GOP legislators said they won't defy their party's governor on an override vote.

Legislative proponents say the new revenue is sorely needed and long overdue. But opponents said this bill cannot accomplish its goal.

"Everybody on this floor wants more money for transportation [but] the votes to override are not there," said House Minority Leader Marty Seifert, R-Marshall.

The vote in the House was 90-43, right on the number of supporters needed for a two-thirds majority to overcome a veto. The Senate roll call was 47-17, veto-proof with two votes to spare.

A few lawmakers take center stage

Until override votes come up, a few House Republicans along with a couple of DFLers who voted no on Monday will be in the spotlight.

GOP Reps. Dean Urdahl of Grove City and Bud Heidgerken of Freeport voted yes on Monday, but it was unclear how they would approach an override vote. Rep. Dennis Ozment, R-Rosemount, announced after his vote in favor that he wouldn't defy a Pawlenty veto.

Republican Reps. Jim Abeler of Anoka, Ron Erhardt of Edina, Neil Peterson of Bloomington and Kathy Tingelstad of Andover backed their outspoken support of the bill with yes votes Monday.

On the DFL side, Lieder said Mary Ellen Otremba of Long Prairie and Tom Rukavina of Virginia would reverse their no votes for an override. But Rukavina, miffed at his caucus over last week's passage of a statewide smoking ban, said: "I wouldn't be so sure."

The House would be first to attempt an override. If that failed, the bill would not advance to the Senate. But if the House posted 90 votes, Senate DFL supporters of the bill would need help from only one or two of the four Republicans who voted in favor Monday: Steve Dille of Dassel, Dennis Frederickson of New Ulm, Joe Gimse of Willmar and Michael Jungbauer of East Bethel.

Veto overrides are extremely rare in Minnesota. Arne Carlson issued 179 vetoes in his eight years in office in the 1990s and wasn't overridden once in a dozen tries by the DFL-controlled Legislature. His predecessors going back to 1939 were overridden only four times.

The only time a Minnesota governor's authority has been seriously challenged was when the Independence Party's Jesse Ventura, with practically no partisan comrades in the Legislature, had the job. Eight bills and four line items were enacted over his vetoes during his tenure from 1999 to 2003.

Funding crunch

The looming confrontation with Pawlenty comes after nearly two decades of little action on comprehensive funding for Minnesota's transportation network. The gas tax was last raised in 1988, when its 20 cents a gallon was worth 34 cents in today's money. And under Ventura, the state sharply cut vehicle registration taxes, another longtime source of revenue for roads and bridges.