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MEDIA CONTACT:
Andrew Wagner
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Andrew.Wagner@house.mn
News Release
DEMOCRATS REVIVE GAS AND LIGHT RAIL TAX HIKES
ST. PAUL — In a surprise move, House Democrats unveiled $1.5 billion in transportation tax and fee increases Monday in their Transportation Omnibus bill, including some proposals that had not even received committee hearings. House Democrats are proposing more than $350 million over the next four years in gas tax increases by indexing the gas tax, nearly $1 billion in sales tax hikes through a half percent increase to the Metro Sales to pay for light rail and other transit, and hundreds of millions in tax and fee increases, including tab and registration fee hikes, and an increase to Motor Vehicle Sales Tax.
“Democrats are bringing back their unpopular gas and light rail tax hikes when we have a $4.2 billion surplus," said House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt, R-Crown. "Yesterday they announced billions in tax hikes that would hurt businesses, today they’re pushing taxes that would hit every family in Minnesota and make our state more expensive to buy a car, fill up your tank, and renew your tabs. Gas tax hikes are so unpopular even Gov. Walz stopped pushing for them — Republicans defeated these bad ideas before, and we’ll defeat them again this year.”
“Once again, House Democrats have proven their relentless appetite to increase taxes that will never be satisfied," added Rep. John Petersburg, R-Waseca, Republican Lead on the House Transportation Committee. "At a time when Minnesotans are still trying to recover from the pandemic, Democrats believe the time is right to raise taxes on gasoline, cars, and everyday purchases. These tax increases will hit Minnesotans of every income level, including the poorest of the poor. Minnesota already has a $4.2 billion budget surplus meaning there is no reason at all to waste our time on tax increase proposals. Instead we should be leveraging and prioritizing the surplus dollars and future Federal dollars in providing improvements to our transportation infrastructure.”
Gov. Walz has notably dropped proposed gas tax and fee increases from his budget proposals this year.
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