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For Immediate Release -  June 20, 2003
 

LETTER TO THE EDITOR:

TRANSPORTATION BILL WAS FISCALLY IRRESPONSIBLE

Thank you to Cynthia Dufour for expressing her concerns regarding the
2003 transportation bill. I welcome and encourage any constituent who
may not fully understand an issue to call me and ask. That's what I'm
here for.

Cynthia is concerned about commute time and our growing highway
congestion, and I share her concern. Congestion hurts our economy as
well as the environment, and it is in our best interest as a state to
get aggressive with it, or it will get exponentially worse as our
population grows.

The 2003 transportation bill, unfortunately, was not aggressive, and
worse, it was fiscally irresponsible. The Minnesota Department of
Transportation projects that it will take $15 billion just to keep
congestion from getting worse between now and 2025. This bill was for
less than $1 billion, and it was credit card spending, financing just
two years worth of projects over 20 years!

Now, my husband and I own a business. We've been successful
entrepreneurs. I'm a member of the chamber of commerce. And no
responsible business owner I know would finance a two year asset over a
twenty year term.

By the time our kids are done paying for our $400 million in spending,
the total bill will cost taxpayers an additional $200 million in
interest - which we will get nothing for. If the road work were to last
for that whole 20 years, this might make sense. But it won't, so
business wisdom says you don't capitalize it.

I'm not alone in applying a business perspective to the problem. John
Gunyou, the successful Finance Commissioner under Governor Arne Carlson,
recently supported my position when he pointed out that to pay for the
interest alone on this bonding the state will have to reduce road
maintenance, and there's no new construction money after the next two
years. Does that make sense? A senior, 7-term Republican member of the
House Transportation Finance and Policy committee also supported my
position when he stated on the House floor that "this bill will do
nothing to solve our problem with congestion."

Doing nothing to solve the problem and wasting hundreds of millions of
dollars doing it does not meet my balance and reason test.

Transportation is a key issue, especially for me, driving in to the
capitol every day. Every minute commuters have to spend in traffic is
less time they spend with their families, or less profits for
businesses, and in both cases, more mercury in our lakes and fish. The
legislature needs to make a responsible commitment to our transportation
needs, not a symbolic gesture that does nothing to address the real
problem, but a real solution that will provide long-term benefits to our
citizens.

Sincerely,
(signed)
Representative Rebecca Otto