House Road-and-Bridge Funding Plan Clears Key Committee

ST. PAUL (AP) - The House plan to spend billions more on Minnesota road-and-bridge construction over the coming decade is moving forward.

The House transportation committee voted 13-8 on Monday to push it ahead, with backing from one Democrat and every Republican. The bill would shift existing taxes on auto parts, car leases and rental cars to a new transportation fund and supplement that pot with billions in new borrowing.

Republican Representative Tim Kelly notes the package "still has a ways to go" but held it up as an approach that addresses construction backlogs without raising taxes. Democratic Representative Frank Hornstein argues it is built on "a very flimsy foundation of gimmicks and shifts."

A higher tax on fuel is the central element of competing plans from Governor Mark Dayton and majority Senate Democrats.