The Great Train Robbery

I've put some thought this week to when exactly the Minnesota GOP became infatuated with stopping light rail train expansion.  I pegged it to when the original Hiawatha Line was authorized, and the Minnesota Republicans all screamed about empty trains, wasted tax dollars and government boondoggles, only to have a lot of egg on their face when the line ended up being wildly popular.  But to be fair, former Governor Tim Pawlenty signed off on the bonding bill which funded the University Ave. expansion in 2008.  My guess is Republican Speaker of the Minnesota House Kurt Daudt, Republican House Majority Leader Joyce Peppin and the rest of the MNGOP insist that was one of T-Paw's weak moments.

The Twin Cities metro area, 16th largest in the country, NEEDS an effective well thought out mass transportation system, which consists of more than just buses.  Every major, successful metropolitan area in the world has some sort of rail line system.  The Twin Cities used to have an incredible street car line which could get you from Stillwater to Lake Minnetonka in 1900(!).  Sadly, like in many metro areas, corporate interests bought up the street car lines in the 30's and 40's, and ran them into the ground.  I remember when they were tearing up Minnetonka Blvd. in the 90's, and underneath the layers of asphalt was a beautiful brick road with rail lines running down the middle of them.  Sadly, they ripped them up in the name of advancement.

The next expansion, the Southwest Light Rail Line, or SWLRT, has been pursued for a few years.  One of the largest problems with this expansion is it didn't follow a pre-existing roadway, but rather cut a swath through the suburbs, partially on an old train line/modern bike trail, but in other places cutting through virgin territory.  To the surprise of many, myself included, a lot of people came together to try to make this happen, including the wealthier suburbs and conservative business leaders.  With federal financing in place, 92% of SWLRT was funded.  All the state needed to put forward to get a 2 billion dollar light rail line built was $135 million dollars, a small sum for a state with a $900 million dollar budget surplus.  Regardless of what party you identify with, finding the funding to finish a major infrastructure program of this size, at that price, should have been a no brainer.  Then came the MN House Republicans.

The same people who made unemployed Iron Range workers wait three months, and a few corporate welfare handouts, to get expanded unemployment funds out of the state's solvent unemployment fund account, insisted they would NEVER fund another light rail line.  The Minnesota Republicans have ignored the financial reports, ridership analysis, and jammed pack train cars to insist, "no one ever rides light rail."  They ignored the communities screaming for them, far right business groups highlighting light rail's corporate benefits and Minnesota Department of Transportation reports touting the benefits for existing car traffic.  And most inexcusably, they ignored the largest benefit; in the realm of spending for major projects, you'll never get another sweetheart deal like this.  The Republicans put their fingers in their ears, closed their eyes and screamed "we can't hear you, we can't hear you!"

There was always hope.  To get the a bonding bill passed in Minnesota, you need super majorities in both chambers, which means 8 Democrats in the House and a substantial amount of Democrats in the Democratically controlled Minnesota Senate.  And let's not forget the signature of Governor Mark Dayton, a Democrat.  Compromise means the GOP had to give in on some Democrat demands, and SWLRT was a big one, but the MNGOP still waited until the final two days to get serious about compromise.

The following is not speculation, but what we know happened:

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk went to Speaker Daudt and insisted a SWLRT compromise had to be in the bonding bill.  Since the MNGOP was completely against funding the paltry $135 million, he put forward language which would allow Hennepin County Rail to expand their portion of the funding, taking it away from the state coffers.  Bakk said to Daudt it had to be in the bill.  House Minority Leader Paul Thissen was there at this meeting, and Daudt agreed to put the funding shift into the bonding bill.

At some point afterwards, Daudt, Peppin and/or other Republicans pulled the language out of the bill, without mentioning it to the Democrats.

In the last hours of the Minnesota Legislature 2016, time was of the essence.  They had to have all major bills passed by midnight of the last day of session, which happened to be Sunday, May 22nd.

Late on the 22nd, the House quickly threw out the bonding bill and demanded a vote without much review by the public or the House members.  It passed and went up to the Minnesota Senate.  Senator Ron Latz, who represents one of the districts the SWLRT would travel through, immediately looked for the funding deferment language.  It wasn't there.  For whatever reason, the compromise Daudt had agreed to was omitted from the bill.  Latz made a quick amendment to include the agreed upon language, the Senate passed the bill and sent it back to the House with fifteen minutes for approval.

Initial reports gave the impression the innocent House Republicans were betrayed.  Daudt and Peppin were insisting, out of no where, a never discussed SWLRT amendment, funding the entire light rail line from state funds was added, brazenly by Latz and Senate Democrats.  They said, since time was up, they sadly bowed their heads and gaveled the House to closure.

The truth is much harsher on the Republicans.  Not only was the amendment the agreed to verbiage from Daudt, language which didn't fund the SWLRT from state coffers, but allowed Hennepin County to do so, but the bill, with the proper amendments and paperwork, actually did make it back to the Minnesota House with plenty of time to get a final vote.  Two House Democrats say the bill was on the House floor.  Speaker Daudt saw it, waved off the amended bill, and gave the signal to Joyce Peppin to gavel the House to closure, even though they could've easily had a vote.

It's clear the House Republican's game plan was either sneak the bonding bill though the Senate without the promised language in it, something they did with shocking effect on other bills in 2015, or they'd get caught, which they did, act as if they were the innocent victims, gavel the House to a close and campaign on, "Democrats want to force all rural Minnesotan's to sell every personal item they have, including the grandfather clock, just so every minority in the Twin Cities can have their own personal light rail line!!!"

Kurt Daudt and the Republicans constantly lied this session, and this one incident features about six.  The Twin Cities metro area is 3.5 million people, in a state with 5.5 million, but the GOP consistently win by putting out well crafted talking point pablum about rural America, with no intent on ever following through on their promises (broadband anyone?). Republicans are so against light rail, they can't see the forest for the tress.  Light rail trains are popular.  When you factor in their advertising, they make money, and they dramatically help traffic patterns on pre existing roads.  AND IT WAS 92% PAID FOR!!!  Nope, they decided this was the hill they were going to die on, selling it to their loyal followers with empty claims of wanting to fund roads and bridges first, even though their transportation bill didn't have funding for roads and bridges.

The media should also be ashamed.  I have the equivalent of a tech school journalism degree, and I was able to find the truth about this.  Instead of reporting Republican talking points and Twitter posts as fact, or throwing your hands in the air when it gets pointed out you reported the wrong truth, do your damn job!

Meanwhile the Twin Cities metro area continues to grow and grow and grow, and the road
traffic in the Twin Cities keeps getting worse and worse and worse...