by T.W. Budig
ECM capitol reporter

Democrats came to the Capitol Tuesday (Dec. 11) afternoon to demand Gov. Tim Pawlenty crank up his efforts at transportation funding.

The press conference came same-day that a Northstar Commuter Rail funding agreement with federal authorities was signed in Anoka.

But Northstar took too long, argued Hennepin County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin.

"I'm glad he was a convert - don't get that wrong," said McLaughlin of Pawlenty's eventual support for the commuter rail line.

But speed is essential to trying to capture federal transit dollars, he argued.

Had Northstar gone ahead sooner, the line could have been longer with more stops, McLaughlin (pictured at right) pointed out.

Democrats argued that the 2008 legislative session should be a transportation funding session.

Transit will be hobbled, they argued, until the state secures on-going transit funding.

Democrats looked to a metro wide sales tax as a transit funding source, arguing other locales have to turned to it to funding transit.

But they indicated they do not want to see a referendum provision attached to a metro sales tax proposal.

"That simply puts it (the funding) off into the future," said Rep. Alice Hausman, DFL-St. Paul, House Capital Investment Finance Committee chair.

Pawlenty has indicated that a referendum provision would need to be part of any sales tax proposal he could support.

(Photo by T.W. Budig, ECM Capitol Reporter)