ST. PAUL — Last week, Senate Republicans, along with labor and business leaders, proposed a major new investment in roads and bridges using existing revenue .
The proposal would direct 100% of tax revenue from the sale of auto parts to rebuild Minnesota’s transportation infrastructure, allowing the state to fund roads and bridges without raising gas taxes, tab fees, sales taxes, and without adding a new mileage tax on commuters, which has been proposed by some metro legislators.
Dedicating 100% of auto parts sales tax revenue would provide more than $314 million for roads and bridges in 2023, $324 million in 2024, and $336 million in 2025, according to a nonpartisan Senate Fiscal analysis .
“We need to continue investing to maintain and improve our roads and bridges in Greater Minnesota,” said Sen. Torrey Westrom, R-Elbow Lake. “We’ve seen enough of our tax dollars siphoned off for unnecessary metro-transit boondoggles and non-transportation related spending. We need to focus on the bread and butter of our transportation infrastructure and we can fund it without raising taxes.”
In 2017, Republicans led an effort to redirect a set portion of revenue from auto parts sales taxes to roads and bridges. In 2021, Republicans aimed to convert the set amount to an equivalent percentage, so the figure would increase each year along with inflation. Republicans also secured $7.8 billion for state roads, including construction, development, and maintenance.
