Proposed Transit/Bike Resolution of the Seward Neighborhood Group to Our State Legislators and Governor Dayton To: Governor

Mark Dayton, Minnesota State Senators Keri Dziedzic and Patricia Torres Ray, Minnesota State Representatives Phyllis Kahn and Jim Davnie Whereas, a quality transit system that connects Seward to the whole metro area is vital to the livability of the Seward Neighborhood, and Whereas, a quality biking and walking infrastructure that connects Seward to the rest of Minneapolis and St. Paul is vital to the livability of the Seward Neighborhood, and Whereas, non-automobile transit options are vital to low and moderate income residents of Seward, and Whereas, to have a quality biking, walking and transit infrastructure, increased and stable funding is required, and Whereas, the Twin Cities is behind similar regions that have approved significant metropolitan area wide sales tax dedicated to transportation options (including Dallas, Denver, Houston, St. Louis, San Jose, Atlanta, Boston, Cleveland, San Francisco and Seattle), and Whereas, in this legislative session, Minnesota has an historic chance to invest in transit (motorized and non-motorized) through dedicated funding, and Whereas, the State Senate is proposing to replace the existing insufficient of a penny fivecounty sales tax with a of a penny seven-county tax, dedicated to alternative transportation, and the Senate bill would allow this region to stop building one LRT line per decade and instead build a real regional transit system, and Whereas, approval of the Senate bill would provide the first-ever dedicated state funding for biking and walking ($10-12 million a year in the Twin Cities), which will support important local projects like sidewalks, bike lanes, and safe crosswalks, and Whereas, waiting for rural areas of Minnesota to support investing state dollars in metro area transit perpetuates the very slow progress on transit in the states largest metropolitan area, while other metropolitan areas across the nation have stopped waiting and build transit systems through a metro-only sales tax, and Whereas, while it would be great to fund all government services through a progressive income tax, that is not realistic, and the most regressive approach is to not build a regional transit system, not provide transportation choices for seniors, students, low income families and others to get to where they need to go, whether it is to work, school, doctor, place of worship, etc., and Whereas, without additional funding for transit this session, Metro Transit will have to cut service and/or raise transit fares, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Seward Neighborhood Group calls upon the Governor and our legislators to approve a of a penny sales tax increase ( cent total) dedicated for safe, convenient and accessible transit, bicycling and walking similar to what the Senate is proposing.