Tim Walz's Transportation Bill

 You have no doubt heard a lot about what Tim Walz and the Democratic legislature havd accomplished once they had a “trifecta” (majorities in both houses and the Governor’s mansion).  But it’s worth doing a quick bullet list of some the high points:

• Free school breakfast and lunch for students;

• Guaranteed paid leave and paid sick days;

• A child tax credit to cut child poverty by a third;

• Expansion of voting rights, including automatic voter registration;

• A guarantee of reproductive freedom;

• Reduced prescription drug costs;

• A plan for 100% clean energy by 2040;

• A $1 Billion investment in affordable housing;

• Legalization of recreational cannabis; and

• New gun safety laws.

Impressive stuff!  And I’m sure you can add to that list.

What hasn’t been talked about much is Governor Walz’s legislative record on transportation.  And that is just as impressive.  In 2023 the legislature enacted an appropriations bill with very robust and innovative transportation provisions.  The advocacy group Move Minnesota, which was active in shaping the bill, said it achieved “nation-leading wins” and Streetsblog USA said it might be “the best statewide transportation bill yet.”

OK, time for another bullet list.  This is some of what the bill included:

• Pump more money into transportation, including indexing the gas tax to inflation;

• Create a long-term, stable funding stream for transit;

• Create a retail delivery fee, so that Amazon and friends will help pay for the public infrastructure they use;

• Set up a free-fare pilot program;

• Provide increased funding for bus rapid transit, intercity rail, bicycle and pedestrian programs; 

• Create a statewide e-bike tax rebate; and

• (Saving the best for last) require the Minnesota DOT to review state arterial highway expansion projects to determine if they decrease greenhouse gas emissions and vehicle miles traveled to meet state climate goals, and, if they don’t, either kill the project or provide mitigation measures.

Again, pretty impressive.

This last provision – reviewing highway expansion projects through a climate change lens – is probably the most consequential of all.  (It was amended this year to apply to all state arterial (“trunk”) highway projects, not just capacity increases.  The law becomes effective for capacity increase projects on 1 February 2025, with all projects covered by 2027.  

The law spells out in detail the measures that Minnesota DOT can take to mitigate a project’s shortfall on greenhouse gas emissions or VMT:

1. Transit expansion;

2. Transit service improvements;

3. Active transportation infrastructure;

4. Micromobility infrastructure and service;

5. Transportation demand management;

6. Parking management (including reductions in parking requirements);

7. Land use (increase in residential density, mixed use development, transit oriented development);

8. Infrastructure related to traffic operations (roundabouts, reduced conflict intersections); and

9. Natural systems (prairie restoration, reforestation, urban green space).

Of course, the devil is very much in the details when it comes to implementing such a complicated provision.  But it looks like the agency (Minnesota DOT) is administering it in good faith.  The working group set up to design the process included a representative from Move Minnesota.

We can’t give all the credit for this bill to Governor Walz – the Democratic-Farmer-Labor party majority (Trifecta for the win!) and outside groups like Move Minnesota were essential.  But it happened on his watch and under his leadership, so it should go on his resume!

The Move Minnesota story explaining how this remarkable bill came in to being is available here.