Bakk: Pass New Money For Roads This Year Or Punt To 2017
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk is cranking up the pressure to pass a major transportation package this year.
The Cook Democrat said Thursday he thinks the Legislature will punt until at least 2017 if lawmakers fail this session to pass new funding for roads and bridges.
Democrats and Republicans disagree over the scope of the problems and how to pay for them. Bakk says a shortened session and space constraints at the Capitol in 2016 will make a compromise impossible.
Senate Democrats and Gov. Mark Dayton have called for a package of tax increases and fee hikes to pay for billions of dollars in repairs over the next decade. But Republicans who control the House are wary of raising taxes. They've proposed a short-term plan with $750 million in funding.
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