Late Monday the Minnesota Legislature voted Monday to override Gov. Tim Pawlenty's veto of a $6.6 billion bill, paving the way for higher gas taxes and other fees to bring in more money for roads, bridges and transit.
The critical vote came in the House, where six Republicans broke ranks to defy the governor and provide the two-thirds majority needed to override. The final vote was 91-41. The Senate vote later in the day, 47-20, was assured since Democrats have a veto-proof majority.
The state's first gas tax hike since 1988 hits on April 1, and by fall it will have climbed slightly more than a nickel overall to 25.5 cents per gallon. It will rise in stages another 3 cents by 2012 to pay off road bonds.
Overrides are rare in Minnesota, with only 14 occurring since 1939. None of Pawlenty's 36 previous vetoes had been overturned, including two before on transportation proposals.
The governor reacted coolly, "The DFL majority has done what it does best, which is to raise taxes on Minnesota families," he said. "I'm more than happy to say this is a DFL product and a DFL result with a few Republicans who helped them because I wouldn't want to take any credit for this piece of work."
So gas, registration and sales taxes will increase soon!
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26 comments:
Got to love that man but once again a good veto is overuled. I think they need to add the tax onto something other than gas, everyone needs gas poor and rich people alike we dont need to be making it harder for the common man to earn an honest wage. Add the tax to something deadly like alcohol and cigarettes.
Nosemaj
I think this can be either a good thing or a bad thing. This is a good thing because we are giving more money to the government so that they can fix roads, bridges, and what not. This is also a bad thing beucase I have to pay for my own gas and as the prices of these things go up, I will need to give more money out of my pocket to them. I will be also going to college soon and will have to travel to see my family. I will also be responsible for my own personal products which includes sales tax. This will have to make me budget more of my money.
I think it is good that we are fixing our roads and bridges etc. but i don't think they should be getting the money from gas tax. People can hardly afford gas the way it is and with our salary staying the same it is only going to get harder. Pretty much a working person who is not very wealthy is going to be working to pay for the gas to get back to work. The government should put the tax on something else.
I think this sucks because I will be paying a lot of money for gas. I guess it is necessary for the prices to go up of gas if the roads, bridges, and transit needs money. I wonder how high gas will get before people start reacting to the price. No matter how high the price is for gas it seems like people will always continue driving and a really high gas price might be what will slow down all the driving. While they are doing that the government is going to bring in some money.
I think that it is either a good thing or a bad thing because we are getting out of debt a little by paying off the roads and bridges and all the other construction that we have to do but it is also a bad thing because i have to pay for my own gas and i work in park rapids so as the price of gas goes up it gets really hard to get to work every day like i have to. So when college starts it is really going to be a big change having to balance out my money more then i will have to.
I think that Pawlenty's reaction was funny. He wants to take no credit for a peice of work that will raise the taxes on Minnesota families. I agree that it stinks to have to pay more money for sales tax, registration, and gas tax, but its a matter of security also. Infrastructure needs to be improved. The bridge is a perfect example. I know that i rarely go over it, but there are people that need to cross it every day. It is costing a whole lot more money to rebuild it than it would have been to have kept everything in good condition.
I think its both good and bad. We have to pay more for gas and pay more for all other things that get higher prices. I think its good that we are fixing the roads, bridges and etc. Its like as if someone is not wealthy and they still have a job but their whole pay check is pretty much blown because they have to pay for gas tog et back and fourth from work. It doesnt matter how high the gas prices go but some people will still drive.
yeha i think its dumb because pretty much everybody drives and the prices just keep goin up. i agree with master willy we should add tax to all the stuff that can kill us instead of something that someone uses everyday. but also it is a good thing that its going towards the roads
Im glad that they are fixing the roads, bridges etc. but i think they need to add tax on something other than gas. Most of us pay for our gas with our own money and with the prices going up and now more tax added on its going to cost us allot more to go places. People can barely afford gas prices the way they are and with the low income salary that we all make it just gonna make it allot harder for people to get to certain places.
I think that the democrats are going to run this country to the ground by raising prices and that is going to put alot of families in the poor house. I think that pawlenty did the right thing by vetoing the bill. Thank you Mr. Pawlenty for vetoing this thing and no thanks to the DFL and those few republicans you guys are a disgrace to america.
Hey get the freaking morons out of there.....that would be those left wing nut jobs raising the tax burden on Minnesotans again.! I think the DFL needs to be completely eliminated because the are either partially or completely mentally retarded.... i can't decide yet...... I love cenex hotstuff pizza
I don't think that this was the best bill to pass. The government should find other "luxury" items to tax instread of gas. I think that it is funny that six REPUBLICANS pretty much finanlized the override. Gas is already much too expensive. This is a horrible bill for the average person.
Why would you add taxes to something else for your roads etc.?? If you are the one using it I believe you should be the one paying for it not the carless drunk buying boozes!! Yeah it sucks paying for gas the way it is and getting higher but that is what this world is coming to!
I think Tim Pawlenty did teh right thign vetoing this bill.I think it is good that we are fixing our roads and bridges. though this is a horrbile bill for teh average person it helps the avrage person because it keeps our roads,bridges, and all that other stuff we take for granted in good working condition and will keep them that way.
A raise in gas prices is the last thing Minnesotans need. Instead of trying to find a way to lower gas prices, the MN government is raising the gas prices. The economy will never get stronger if inflation keeps rising and the gov. keeps giving us higher tax burdens.... We can all thank the DFL for this one!!
this is a bunch of BS.
the government gets enought of our money so whey should we pay for more.
if they keep this up we will go into a depressions again.
they are makeing alot of money on us per gallon already.
they can shove it were the sun don't shine.
I feel the tax should be added onto something else rather than the gas. Why not put it on the deadly stuff like master willy said! Our roads are decent. We dont need to be spending bilions of dollars on them. Well, I guess whatever... they know better than I do!
I can understand where the government is coming from, I mean they do need the money but I think gas is the wrong thing to be taxing. Raise the tax on cigarettes or something so it doesn't affect so many people. This gas tax will affect every single Minnesotan. I hate taxes
i agree with rachael, on how it can either be a good things or a bad thing. Gas prices do suck. I spend so much money on gas each week, and continually it seems as though they always raise the price,and people just keep driving anyway no matter how high gas prices get. I also think it is good to spend money on repairing the roads and bridges.
yeah i dunno whats going on and frankly i think i pay more for gas than anyone in this grade. am i willing to pay the extra 5 cents yes. am i happy about it not really. but i am going to have to deal with it. its only 5 cents. could be alot less. i think maybe this wouldnt be as big of a deal if we did something about the gas prices in the first place.
Pawlenty.. I like him.. everyone vetoing this.. I don't like them.. Think of all the younger/older people who can hardly work to make ends meet.. Gas provides the fuel for the automobiles that we use to transport ourselves to work to make money to feed mouths. The government bites.. I think I'll move to Europe, I can bike everywhere then. :)
Gas is hard to pay for now, I can't imagine it when theres a sales tax. It kinda stinks that the govenor got overidded. I guess we will have good roads now but you have to wonder whether they could have achieved that a different way then creating a gas tax.
bascilly sucks the working man it taking it you know where again. cant blame pqwlenty he tried i guess it is just bs sometime how on tv all they talk about is gas prices and the politans all they want to do is raise taxes on them.
I hate the prices already and raising them will hurt my checkbook even more. I agree with Jameson, they should put more tax on stupid things like alcohol and cigarettes..maybe that will convince some people to quit too. I'll probably just turn amish and ride my horse n buggy everywhere.
Hey master lilly........don't be puting taxes on tobacco.....a guy needs those things...you can always walk to work ahaha.... anyways yeah lets go raise taxes... yeah yeah yeah hello the government can only do so much to boost the economy... which is very little... lower taxes and you people have more money to pump into the stinking economy... gall i hate being right... darn libs anyhow...
we definately do now need this gas tax! enough of us are already suffering from it. pretty soon people that work in the cities are going to be quiting because they can't afford to travel all of the time.
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