The Minnesota House of Representative voted 85-49 on Monday to pass HF2438, the Omnibus Transportation Budget Bill, which includes rollbacks of climate action, doubles taxes solely on electric vehicles and cuts funding for transit, walking and biking infrastructure.
HF2438 will now go into conference committee to be negotiated with SF2082, the Omnibus Senate Transportation Budget Bill, once that bill passes the Senate Floor.
“Climate change deniers are celebrating the passage of this awful bill. The Minnesota House, which led the way towards historic climate action in 2023, has now reversed course. The House had the best transportation bill in 2023, now they have passed the worst.” said Risa Hustad, Chair of Sierra Club’s Land Use and Transportation Committee.
In 2023, the Legislature passed a historic Omnibus Transportation Law that included funding for transit, walking, and biking. It also required the MN Department of Transportation to adhere to both greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and vehicle miles traveled (VMT) reduction targets. This nation-leading law, which we call the “Climate Impact of Highways Law,” went into effect in February. HF2438 delays these GHG/VMT reduction targets by three and a half years.
“Notably, the biggest rollback of climate action, the long delay in the Climate Impact of Highways Law, is completely unnecessary, it delays essential climate action even though it has nothing to do with the budget. Why is this massive policy change in the bill? A “lights on” bill that maintains current funding would be better. The House Transportation bill would ignore for three and a half more years the climate crisis which we had already ignored for decades. We do not have time for this delay,” said Joshua Houdek, Senior Program Manager for Sierra Club North Star Chapter.
Amendments to remove the delay of GHG/VMT targets and impose a more modest tax increase on electric vehicles failed on “party line” 67-67 tie votes. 49 of 67 Democrats subsequently voted no on the whole bill, with 18 voting yes. All 67 Republicans voted yes on the whole bill.
“It’s deeply disappointing to see some pro-environment Legislators retreat from their biggest victories from 2023, instead of fighting back for our climate, communities and future. This failure to stand up for climate is exactly what is driving people nationwide to show up to protests and town halls. Minnesota legislators are not powerless. They could stop rollbacks of climate laws simply by voting no, and they should,” said Peter Wagenius, Legislative Director for Sierra Club North Star Chapter.
The 2023 GHG/VMT law was originally authored by Representative Larry Kraft and then-Senator, now Congresswoman Kelly Morrison. Rep. Kraft spoke against the delay and against the bill, as did Representatives Katie Jones, Kaela Berg and Lucy Rehm.
A broad coalition of organizations opposed cutting funding for transit, walking and biking. That coalition of 16 organizations wrote to legislators in January after Governor Walz first proposed funding cuts.
What Does HF 2438 Do?
The House Transportation Omnibus Bill (HF2438) includes a three and a half year delay (from Feb 1, 2025 to Aug 1, 2028) in implementation of the Greenhouse Gas and Vehicle Miles Traveled reduction targets.
HF2438 also includes cuts to funding for transit, walking and biking:
- Greater MN Transit
- $12 Million cut in FY26-27, same in FY28-29
- Metro Transit
- $40 million cut in FY26-27, increasing to $64 million in FY28-29
- Special Transportation Services, such as Metro Mobility.
- No change in FY 26-27 and $27M in FY 28-29.
- Free Rides on Buses for Metro Mobility Certified Customers.
- $175K cut in FY 26-27 and $200K cut in FY 28-29.
- Active Transportation.
- $4M cut in FY 26-27. $8M cut in FY 28-29.
- Passenger Rail Base Funding.
- No change in FY 26-27 and $8.9M in FY 28-29.
- General Transit Fund Transfer to Passenger Rail Account.
- No change in FY 26-27 and $16M cut in FY 28-29.
HF 2438 also includes a 167% increase in the annual registration fee paid by owners of electric vehicles from $75 to $200. Rep Kraft described how electric vehicle owners already pay more than their fair share since they pay a higher sales tax at time of purchase and drive fewer miles. Kraft offered an amendment to increase the registration fee from $75 to $100 and indexed that fee to inflation. That amendment was defeated 67-67.