ST. PAUL, Minn. - A transportation finance bill that mostly keeps the status quo is rolling toward a vote in the Minnesota Senate.
The legislation to be debated Friday is less controversial than it once was. That's because it was stripped of provisions to raise fuel taxes for ramped-up road construction and a metropolitan-area sales tax increase for mass transit.
Gov. Mark Dayton balked at the higher gas tax. And Sen. Scott Dibble, the Democratic sponsor, determined that it would be tough to pass a transit tax on its own.
Advocates for a substantial new investment in transportation say they will regroup and make another push in the 2014 session.