The 2023 Minnesota Legislative Session is officially complete. Both chambers got their work done by Monday’s deadline, including the passage of the transportation bill that Governor Walz has signed.
The bill includes hundreds of millions of dollars in new revenue to fund a nearly $9 billion investment in Minnesota’s transportation system. Among the new fees or tax increases are: a new delivery fee for products over $100, a gas tax hike tied to inflation, an increase in sales tax on vehicles, and a higher metro area sales tax.
While mainly focused on improving Minnesota’s roads and bridges, there are also investments in our transit system. Some of the areas of investment include:
- $2.3 billion to build and rebuild trunk highways, which are interstates and state highway
- $76 million to widen freeways, including $50 million to the Corridors of Commerce fund
- $53.25 million to address roadway safety concerns, which mostly includes converting intersections to interchanges
- $22 million for local bridges, including to rebuild the Kellogg/Third Street Bridge in St. Paul
- $500,000 to nonprofit carshare providers such as HourCar to expand their programs. Such programs will also no longer have to collect car rental tax.
House Transportation Chair Frank Hornstein said, “Members, this is a historic, generational investment in transportation which will move our state forward in so many ways, for decades and decades to come.”