Senate Republicans have set high expectations for this session, and so far we’ve been meeting them. Within the first two months of session we delivered on promises to provide emergency health care aid and tax relief, as well as Rural Finance Authority funding to help farmers, and a new cleaner energy power plant in the northern suburbs. These aren’t just bills we’re passing; these are bills that the governor has signed into law.

We set an aggressive budget schedule, we are continuing to build trust and cultivate a good working relationship with the governor so we can avoid another special session, and we’ve started unveiling our budget bills far earlier than usual. For the first time in a while, the Senate is functioning smoothly.

Recently, we unveiled a proposal to address a top priority: our Advancing Minnesota Transportation Plan.

Transportation has been a hot issue at the capitol, as well as in our district. That’s why I lobbied hard to be made the vice chair of the Transportation Committee. It’s an issue that heavily affects family commutes as well as state commerce.

Unfortunately, transportation funding has been held up for a long time. Previous legislatures have worked hard to get something done, but failed to deliver. Much of this can be traced to disagreements about funding — Gov. Dayton has preferred to fund transportation projects using new gas and sales taxes.

That path doesn’t work for Minnesotans, and it doesn’t work for us. Our Advancing Minnesota Transportation proposal cleans up the mess left by previous legislatures and provides the dedicated, long-term funding our roads and bridges need — and it does so without raising taxes.

Our plan, which you can read about in depth on our website at www.mnsenaterepublicans.com, invests $3.6 billion into our roads and bridges over the next 10 years. This funding includes $2.8 billion in on-going, new funding from dedicated vehicle-related sales taxes, from MnDOT flex spending, and from eliminating MnDOT inefficiencies. It also includes $791 million in one-time trunk highway bonding and federal grants.

This column was originally published in the Owatonna People’s Press. Read the full column here: http://www.southernminn.com/owatonna_peoples_press/opinion/guest_columns/article_3742d0a8-1bc4-5196-9bef-16bdfc355a3b.html