Transportation Bill Passes

In what was one of the more interesting vote sequences at the Capitol, the Legislature overrode Governor Pawlenty's veto of the transportation bill yesterday.

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/02/25/veto/

Democrats felt that a cash infusion was needed, in addition to the bonding which Republicans supported, to accelerate the improvement and expansion of transportation in Minnesota. Republicans felt that bonding would allow for a better investment, and felt that the taxes in the bill were regressive.

In the end, we'll have the first gas tax increase in years and a small metro-wide increase in the sales tax.