Transportation Bill Sent to the Governor

On a unanimous 67-0 vote, the Senate passed a $7.8 billion omnibus transportation funding package Thursday, June 24, and sent it to Governor Walz for his signature. The measure helps jump start $3.68 billion in road construction projects; $300 million in highway expansion via the Corridors of Commerce program and $14 million for local bridge improvements. Also included in the measure is $30 million for small city and township roads and $5.5 million for the Local Road Improvement Program.

The bill advances several safety measures, including authorizing $608 million for State Patrol and capitol security, which will help fund an additional 63 state troopers. Further, the bill supports the equipping of school buses with cameras to help identify stop-arm violators. The package also provides time-saving improvements for citizens' driver and vehicle transactions by installing self-service kiosks for tab renewals, directing Department of Motor Vehicles offices to reopen across the state to alleviate wait-times for driving exams, allowing the classroom portion of driving instruction to take place online and adding more local DMV staff.

"There are people in the State of Minnesota that are really counting on us to get this done today," said Transportation Chair Scott Newman, R-Hutchinson. "It's the organizations that are involved with transportation--the various alliances, the local units of government, the trades--these folks are all counting on us to get this bill done and get it done today."