Transportation
Our Top Takeaways from the 2018 Minnesota Legislative Session
The Minnesota House and Senate adjourned late Sunday night, and brought the 2018 legislative session to a close. With Governor Mark Dayton likely to follow through on threats to veto key pieces of legislation, the complete book on the session is still being written. Here are quick takes from North Star’s three policy experts…
Read MoreMinnesota’s Love Affair with Ethanol
Remember the last time you filled up your car at the pump. Did you notice the signage about ethanol? Even if you didn’t, you added to a segment of the Minnesota economy worth over $5 billion, and supported over 12,000 Minnesota jobs in the industry. That ethanol in your gas tank will also contribute less…
Read MoreCharging Up: the Need for Electric Vehicle Infrastructure in Minnesota
Electric cars are on the way, and not just for your granola-munching neighbor. Traditional car manufacturers have begun to bet on them. Volvo, for instance, will sell only electric or hybrid cars by next year. General Motors plans to go electric. Ford has turned on its blinker toward the same electric offramp. Not only Elon…
Read MoreMinnesota Needs a Multi-Modal Transportation System
The Center for the American Experiment (CAE) recently published a paper by Cato Institute Senior Fellow Randal O’Tool in which he blames planners at the Metropolitan Council and the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) for Twin Cities highway congestion. The opinion paper drew comparisons to two other cities, Indianapolis and Kansas City, suggesting that Twin…
Read MoreExecutive Summary: Minnesota's Budget Surplus
The conservative effort to use the entire budget surplus to reduce state taxes—often referred to as the “give it back” campaign—is based on the premise that state revenues and expenditures have increased dramatically and thus all legitimate state expenditure needs should already be sated. However, a closer look at total state general fund revenue and…
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