The following commentary by Rep. Linda Slocum was posted on the Sun-Current website May 20, 2017:
To the Editor:
In response to a recent letter by Metropolitan Council Member Steve Elkins (“Legislature’s transit cuts would be dangerous”), I write to provide a critically important clarification.
Mr. Elkins is right that the transportation budget that passed out of the House would cause draconian cuts to transit, amounting to a 40 percent reduction in basic bus service and thrusting thousands more cars onto our traffic-jammed streets.
But his letter inaccurately describes this proposal as one supported by “lawmakers” generally. That’s pretty far from the truth. In fact, DFL legislators in the House have been fighting tooth and nail to stop these cuts. The governor’s proposal we supported would not only have avoided such cuts; it would’ve expanded bus services throughout our region.
Republicans and Republicans alone are the leading force behind these nonsensical cuts that will make it harder for people to get to work every day and will clog up our roads with even more traffic, air pollution, and infrastructure wear-and-tear.
House Speaker Kurt Daudt and Rep. Matt Dean, who both want to run for governor next year, voted for the cuts. So did Edina’s state representative, Dario Anselmo, and Eden Prairie’s state representative, Jenifer Loon. In fact, every single House Republican voted for this monstrosity.
Let’s just be crystal clear about what is happening here. Thanks to the steady leadership of Gov. Mark Dayton, Minnesota now has a $1.65 billion budget surplus. Any rational person knows that there’s no good reason to make devastating cuts to transit in a time of budget surpluses. But Republicans in the House insist we spend hundreds of millions of dollars to give tax cuts to the very rich, including a $161 million tax cut to just 1,000 of the wealthiest families in Minnesota. But to pay for it, they’re cutting bus service for Minnesotans.
Look, I don’t pretend to understand the Republican love affair with traffic. But the love is real, and they are doing everything in their power to make your commute to work as difficult as possible.
If that makes you angry, help me do something about it.
Vote. Them. Out.
Rep. Linda Slocum
(D-Richfield)