Expect another fight over increasing the gas tax when lawmakers return to Saint Paul in January. Governor-elect Tim Walz says he’ll propose it, but Senate Republican Majority Leader Paul Gazelka says “no”. “If you look at the last two years, we had massive increases in spending towards roads and bridges. We can do that without a gas tax [increase],” he says.
Democrats argue there’s not enough money to do the job without taking from other programs. Governor-elect Walz says, “You can’t just say you’re not going to do anything in terms of revenue or budgets and you’re going to magically get roads, bridges and transit.”