Last week was a sad time for Minnesota tax-payers. Our state legislators overrode Governor Pawlenty’s veto to pass an irresponsible transportation bill that increased taxes on the people of our state by an estimated $6.6 billion. That is the largest tax increase in Minnesota history, and it will cost each Minnesotan in excess of $130. This amount may be just a haircut to wealthy, narcissistic defense lawyers like John Edwards, but a lower class family of four can’t afford to just give up over $500 of their income.

The tax hikes are spread out in several different ways. The most notable increase is the 8.5 cent-per-gallon gas tax increase. Why the legislators would increase the gas tax when prices are already as high as they are is beyond me, but perhaps it is intended to be some type of environmental fine for those who can’t ride their bike to work when they live twenty miles away and it is -20˚ F. In state gas taxes, this new bill will send us from twenty-eighth to seventh in the country, and even though I am a competitive guy, that isn’t a race I want to win.

The other ways in which we will be taxed are by increasing the cost of registration; license tabs and a quarter-percent sales tax increase in the metro area. Only six states in the country pay higher taxes per capita than Minnesota. However, with the road the DFL legislators are going down, we should be fifth after this bill, and we can expect to only move farther up that list under their financially irresponsible leadership.

One of the aspects of this tax increase that bothers me the most is that it has allowed proponents of the bill to use the tragedy of the 35-W bridge collapse for political gain. This political ploy was used to make people believe that the Republicans of Minnesota weren’t concerned with making our roads safe because they opposed the bill. But to those who closely followed this debate, the real issue was about where the funding came from and not whether a transportation bill was necessary.

Republican plans for funding transportation involved using the tax dollars that Minnesotans have already given to the state, because at a time when the economy of Minnesota is weak, it is even more important that we don’t make things worse by increasing the tax burden.

Republicans believe that you must prioritize spending instead of increasing taxes every time a bill passes. Education and transportation should take priority in a state budget, and government waste, pork spending and ineffective programs should be cut to find the appropriate funding. If these aren’t enough, we should make cuts to other programs that are lower on the priority list.

The betrayal of six Republican state representatives on this bill was particularly disappointing. These men decided to abandon Republican principles to gain liberal popularity in their districts. Keeping taxes low is one of the core principles of the party.

In my opinion the party was correct to take away the House leadership positions of these men. The public elected these men as Republicans, and if they do not wish to vote as Republicans, then they are free to leave the party and run as independents or Democrats. The party will undoubtedly challenge these representatives in the Republican primaries come election time.

My final concern about this bill is that it was rushed through by the majority party shortly before the budget reports came out, which have reported nearly one billion dollar budget deficit. Under DFL control of the state legislature, Minnesota has gone from having a two billion dollar budget surplus to this large deficit. It makes you wonder why they would rush this bill through before these troubling figures could be presented. One report showed that if not for House Republican opposition and Governor Pawlenty’s vetoes, the deficit would be as large as $1.435 billion. It is time that we hold our legislators accountable for bankrupting our state.

I’d like to conclude by saying that I feel this bill is yet another example of how our state government is headed in the wrong direction. Minnesotans take great pride in their state and we all want adequate transportation funding, but unless we are going to cover the state with yellow brick roads, there is no need to dig deeper into the pocket books of our citizens.

I hope you will all at least consider how much of your money the state of Minnesota deserves to control, and then take that consideration with you to the voting booths during the next election. The great thing about democracy is that when we think things are going down the wrong yellow brick road, we have the ability to change them.