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A recent editorial from Congressman Tim Walz and Mayor Tom Kuntz of Owatonna was a good example of this phenomenon.
First off, no one has said that Highway 14 is in jeopardy at this point.
I picked up the phone, and with one call to Gov. Pawlenty’s office,
I was assured that U.S. Highway 14 is a top priority and is still scheduled for construction next summer.
But to keep it there, we need Congress to follow through on their promise to provide federal money to rebuild the I-35W bridge.
In Minnesota, we’ve been deeply focused on the Highway 14 project for decades.
I personally have been working on funding since I was elected to the county board 25 years ago. Since I’ve been in the state
Senate, I’ve worked with three governors and numerous legislators in both parties to secure
hundreds of millions to build and expand Highway 14 from
Mankato clear through to Byron.
In the past five years, I’ve had the opportunity to carry Gov. Pawlenty’s highway funding bills, which are the two largest transportation packages in Minnesota history.
It was those bills that provided the money for the Waseca to Owatonna leg of Highway 14 that is on schedule to begin next summer.
The bottom line is that the state is absolutely doing its job on Highway 14.
If Kuntz is concerned about not displacing that funding to pay for the 35W bridge, he ought to be lobbying Walz — as we’re all well aware that interstate bridges like the one on I-35W are a part of the federal highway system.
Walz has a real opportunity and responsibility to use his position on the transportation committee to keep Highway 14 on track.
One would think he’d be able to convince Chairman Oberstar to quickly and fully fund a major catastrophe in his own home state.
Promising to pay for the bridge is just talk. It’s time for action.
I’m glad that Walz is learning the statistics on the importance of Highway 14 and if he’d like to send home some federal dollars to help expedite construction like Rep. Gil Gutknecht did, that would be wonderful.
In the meantime, the most valuable thing he can do is push Congress to make good on its promise to send Minnesota the money we need to rebuild the bridge.
One of Congressman Walz’s colleagues in Washington, Sen. Tom Coburn, recently said, “The bridge in Minnesota didn’t fail as much as Congress failed.”
Here in Minnesota, we’ve worked hard for Highway 14, and if I get any word its construction timetable is in trouble, I’ll be
the first person standing on
the governor’s desk fighting
for it.
Until then, Congressman Walz and Kuntz would be far more helpful if they’d stop using scare tactics and start holding
Congress accountable for their share of our transportation responsibilities.
Day is a Minnesota state senator from District 26 and has announced he’ll run against Walz as a Republican in 2008.
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