Speaker Daudt (R – Crown/Zimmerman/Stanford Township/the other side of the line in the sand) and House Republicans held a press conference this morning in Maple Plain calling for a special session to address needed road and bridge funding in Minnesota. They chose to highlight Highway 12, a dangerous road that has needed the state’s attention for quite some time as why a special session is needed, and why Governor Dayton and Democrats are to blame.

If only Republicans had introduced some kind of viable transportation solution this year, they could more easily assign blame to others. But instead, they relied on last year’s failed and insufficient transportation proposal that would not have met the long term funding needed to fix our transportation infrastructure. If they thought projects like Highway 12 were important, they should have worked harder during the regular session.

House Transportation Chair Tim Kelly (R – Red Wing) struck a compromise deal with Senator Scott Dibble (DFL – Minneapolis), but Speaker Daudt and House Republicans refused to budge. Then they voted to adjourn sine die killing the only moving road and bridge funding in the bonding bill. The bonding bill came down to the wire, at least in part, because the House GOP didn’t release their proposal until a few days before adjournment.

Despite not finding time to solve our transportation funding woes, House Republicans did find time to:

Legalize blaze pink as a hunting color
Provide a tax giveaway to big tobacco
Debate bathrooms
Hold a grudge against the University of Minnesota

Will the House Majority really be any more open to a reasonable compromise now than they were a few days ago? They seem content to grandstand about the light rail and do nothing. Speaker Daudt and House Republicans are trying to take the high road on transportation, but they’ve already failed.