politics

A special legislative group considering transportation funding in the aftermath of the I-35W bridge collapse parcelled out $30 million to the Minnesota Department of Transportation on Monday, far less than MnDOT said it needs to stay on track with other road and bridge projects.

The group declined to give MnDOT the $85 million it was asking for, preferring instead to wait until the full Legislature is in session in February to decide about more funding.

Seven of eight members of the bipartisan legislative group, which includes House and Senate members, signed a letter approving the $30 million funding, which will allow MnDOT to advertise and award other road and bridge contracts through March.

MnDOT officials said about $55 million in other projects will have to be deferred.

Since it began meeting, the legislative group has doled out funding piecemeal to MnDOT, which is awaiting an additional $195 million in federal funding for bridge reconstruction that has been authorized but not yet appropriated.

The lone dissenting vote on the $30 million appropriation was Sen. Steve Murphy, DFL-Red Wing, the chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, who said Gov. Tim Pawlenty should call a special legislative session just to deal with a comprehensive transportation package for the state. He said Minnesota has stalled even as other states have moved quickly to fix infrastructure problems after the bridge collapse in Minnesota in August.

"We sit with our feet in cement. That's a sad indictment," Murphy said.

MnDOT Commissioner Carol Molnau, in a heated exchange in an otherwise bureaucratic hearing, said it is a mistake not to fulfill MnDOT's full request because other important road and bridge projects will go wanting.

"There are no winners, and the big losers are the taxpayers of Minnesota," she said.

Mark Brunswick • 651-222-1636