11 Occupy MN Activists Arrested for Shutting Down Bridge

Video courtesy of Minnesotans for a Fair Economy

Eleven activists were arrested in Minneapolis yesterday for creating a human roadblock on the 10th Ave. Bridge during the evening rush hour to protest rising economic and labor inequality. Rev. Paul Slack, pastor of New Creation Church was among them.

Meanwhile, a crowd of 400-500 marchers, including clergy, unemployed workers and local residents marched to “Bridge the Jobs Gap” and demand government action to fix crumbling infrastructure, create good jobs and address Minnesota’s record racial disparity in employment. According to a press release from Minnesotans for a Fair Economy, “the marchers emphasized the need for Wall Street and the wealthy to pay their fair share to fund job creation and avoid devastating budget cuts.” … Continue Reading

Obama:Thousands Of Jobs At Stake In Transportation Bill

President Obama calls on Congress to do what it has done seven times over the past two years and pass a clean extension of the transportation bill. Failure of Congress to act would be disastrous for the economy, costing nearly one million workers their jobs over the next year and almost $1 billion in highway funding after the first ten days alone.

President Obama says:
“Allowing this bill to expire would be a disaster for our infrastructure and our economy. Right away, over 4,000 workers would be furloughed without pay. If it’s delayed for just 10 days, we will lose nearly $1 billion in highway funding that we can never get back. And if we wait even longer, almost 1 million workers could be in danger of losing their jobs over the next year.

“Those are serious consequences, and the pain will be felt all across the country. In Virginia, 19,000 jobs are at risk. In Minnesota, more than 12,000. And in Florida, over 35,000 people could be out of work if Congress doesn’t act.”

Full text of President Obama’s weekly address. … Continue Reading

Sibley Bike Depot – Advocacy in the Form of a Bike Shop!

Text By Demae DeRocher, Video by Bill Sorem
Sibley Bike Depot doesn’t just encourage you to ride a bicycle as your means of transportation …they make sure you have one! And, if you have one, they make sure you know how to maintain and repair it. And, if you know how to repair it, they make sure you can get the parts for it.

And, they do all that for free! Why?

“You can advocate, but if people don’t have access to a bike, they’re not going to ride.” Jason Tanzman, Sibley Bike Depot’s Outreach Development Coordinator, is practical, passionate and pointed about the role the bike shop plays in the community, for the environment, and socio-economically. An interesting perspective Tanzman mentions is the disproportionate amount of money the low-income and unemployed spend on a vehicle versus their income, whereas a bicycle makes more financial sense.

“Sibley Bike Depot is trying really hard to build stronger relationships in our neighborhood. People see us as providing resources. We’re trying to find a sustainable organizational structure that can manage the great growth we’ve had the past three years. With the cost up to four dollars a gallon for gas, more people are going to get on bikes.”

And, with Sibley Bike Depot’s winter bike riding training classes, Minnesotans can stay on their bikes all year round, making riding a sustainable transportation solution. “Winter in Minnesota is really long if you’re trying to run from it. So, the best way to embrace a Minnesota winter head-on is to ride your bike year round,” says Tanzman.

Not only is bicycling an economical, reliable means of transportation, Tanzman also points out its health benefits in fighting obesity and Type 2 diabetes. Sibley Bike Depot believes bicycling is “essential to the planet and individuals’ health.”

Community organization, not a government social service
… Continue Reading

Feds Sign Check to Fund Twin Cities Central Corridor Light Rail

Yesterday at the Minnesota State Revenue Building, Governor Mark Dayton, Senator Al Franken, Rep. Betty McCollum, Mayors R.T. Rybak and Chris Coleman joined a handful of other officials to celebrate the federal government signing a check to fund half of the Twin Cities Central Corridor Light Rail line — effectively giving the much-anticipated project the green light. Peter Rogoff, general administrator of the Federal Transit Administration, was on hand to officially hand over a $478 million check from Washington, D.C.

Bypassing Bumper-to-Bumper Gridlock

Expanding the Twin Cities’ bus and light rail train service reduces congestion on Minnesota roads and saves families money

Videos and text by Jacob Wheeler

Retired banker Ron Williams rode Twin Cities public buses throughout his career, and he continues to ride them almost every day. Though he and his wife own a car, he finds bus travel convenient and inexpensive, and he finds time to read or write in his journal while commuting into Minneapolis. Plus, he says, effective public transit reduces gridlock on Minnesota’s highways. Williams fears that without continued investments in busses and trains, the Twin Cities would begin to resemble Chicago, where traffic is “bumper to bumper”.

Williams and other citizens advocating for public transit appeared at the Minnesota State Capitol in late March to lobby for expanding — not cutting — bus and light rail train service in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Funding for the University Avenue light rail line project, in particular, are under threat from the state’s Republican-controlled legislature. The University Avenue train would connect downtown Minneapolis and downtown St. Paul. (Continue reading for video clips of citizens testifying about the importance of public transit in their lives. To conclude, Barb Thoman, executive director of the Twin Cities nonprofit, Transit for Livable Communities, explains why she views bus and train service, and bike paths, as sustainable alternatives to our traditional car-centric methods of travel.)
… Continue Reading

Transit for Livable Communities Regrets MN GOP’s Proposed Cuts

MN Rep Beard Admits GOP Opposition to Light Rail Both Economical and Ideological

Before the House floor session began today at noon, House Transportation Finance Committee Chair Mike Beard (GOP) spoke to the press and outlined the Republicans’ proposed transportation finance legislation, which would increase funding for roads and bridges in rural Minnesota but eliminate money for a planned light rail train between Minneapolis and St. Paul. Beard admitted that conservative opposition to rail transit is both economical and ideological.

GOP All-Cuts Budget Targets Called “Fake”, “Silly” and Lacking Fiscal Discipline

“Despite their rhetoric of ‘no new taxes’, Republicans are proposing huge tax increases on every homeowner and renter in the state,” DFL Senator John Marty said today at a joint news conference with Senate Minority Leader Tom Bakk. “But corporations don’t have to worry. At the same time that Republicans are increasing taxes for homeowners, they are proposing to eliminate the state property tax for corporations. The Republican bill subsidizes a huge corporate tax break through tax increases on working families. This trade-off may please the Chamber of Commerce, but there is no fairness for the working families struggling through these difficult economic times.”

Meanwhile, over in the junior chamber, House Minority Leader Paul Thissen points out that the transportation bill violates a pledge made by Republicans on the campaign trail not to raise revenue. He says the bill contains a number of fees: $2 for becoming an organ donor, $1.50 for motor vehicle transactions, $15 for getting a permit to move a dock or a boat lift, a $1.75 “technology surcharge” for licensing and registration. Thissen also complains about the bill taking local sales tax money that was set aside for light rail and express busses and moves it into the general fund to pay for other transportation cuts.

More videos below … Continue Reading

Replay – DFL Sens. Bakk, Marty Attack GOP Senate Tax Bill

DFL Senators Tom Bakk and John Marty held a news conference in the Minnesota State Capitol today where they attacked the GOP-controlled Senate’s Omnibus Tax Bill, which includes deep cuts to property tax relief programs such as Local Government Aid and the renters’ property tax refund program. Early analysis of the bill suggests it would raise property taxes by $422 million over the next two years.

MN “Stealing” Local Rail Transit Dollars

In the wild west, trains were robbed by outlaws on horseback. In the Minnesota House, trains are robbed by committee. Missing in this heist could be $380 Million in good paying Minnesota construction jobs and millions in federal transportation funds that Minnesota could lose to other states.

Monday night the Minnesota House Transportation Finance committee on mostly party lines voted to divert the quarter percent sales tax that Twin Cities metro area residents pay to fund light rail to the state’s general fund that pays for buses.

The money would make up for $51 Million in bus operating funds Republicans have proposed cutting, but would come at the expense of not building the central corridor light rail line between Minneapolis and St. Paul. Hennepin County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin said the move would cost jobs and was “stealing” money that the counties had voted to levy on their citizens to pay for the rail line.

McLaughlin called the diversion of money “unprecedented” and said it would put every city on notice that their local sales tax money could be taken over by the state. He said that will lead companies that lend money to cities hike the interest rates they charge.

Testifying were Commissioner Peter McLaughlin, of Hennepin County, Chair of Hennepin County Regional Railroad Authority (HCRRA), and Chair of (CTIB) Counties Transit Improvement Board), Commissioner Paul Krause, of Dakota County, Vice Chair of CTIB, and Jim McDonough, of Ramsey County.

Full video of the House Transportation Committee hearing … Continue Reading