It’s Been No Cakewalk

by Sacha Peterson, Transit for Livable Communities and Denise E. Cady ACT

On Monday, April 19^th at 8:00 am, disability rights activists welcomed back bus drivers and bus riders at the corner of University and Snelling in St. Paul.  The disability community agrees that the strike was very hard-hitting for riders who are transit dependent.  Rider David Harris says “This has been no cakewalk”.  Building on the cakewalk theme, members of ACT, People First Minnesota and People First Central welcomed back the buses by cutting a cake shaped as an MTC bus and handed out pieces to drivers and riders.  Along with the cake, riders received “I support public transit” stickers.

While the strike is over, many riders are concerned with threats to public transit.  Rick Cardenas, co-director at Advocating Change Together notes that “Before the wheels of the buses hit the pavement, Pawlenty and the Republicans in the House were proposing millions of dollars in cuts to transit over the next years”.

As part of his 2005 supplemental budget, Governor Pawlenty is proposing to cut Metro Transit’s budget by $1.7 million annually for the next three years.  These new cuts would come on the heels of $36 million in cuts for 2002 – 2004.  While the Administration states that these new proposed cuts are part of a 3 percent funding reduction for all state agencies, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) would be virtually unaffected.  In fact, MnDOT’s highway funding will likely increase as gas tax and license tab revenues continue their steady climb.   

The House adopted the Governor’s cuts to transit operations.  In addition, it froze the amount of revenue that would be generated by the Motor Vehicle Sales Tax (MVST) at 2004 levels.  This would reduce transit funding by about $4 million in 2005 and about $15 million for the 2006-2007 biennium.  However, the Senate’s budget plan includes about $10 million per year to restore some transit funding in 2005-2007.  Senators Scott Dibble (DLF-Minneapolis), Sharon Marko (DFL-Cottage Grove), and Steve Murphy (DFL-Redwing), as well as Transit for Livable Communities and other transit supporters worked hard to secure this provision in the Senate bill.  A similar provision in the House to restore transit funding had bipartisan support including Rep. Frank Hornstein (DLF-Minneapolis), Rep. Ron Erhardt (R-Edina), and Rep. Jim Rhodes (R-St. Louis Park), but failed to progress beyond a brief committee hearing in the House Transportation Finance Committee.

For information about supporting public transit, call Transit for Livable Communities at 651-767-0298 or Advocating Change Together at 651-641-0297.