By T.W. Budig
ECM capitol reporter

Two local Republicans who voted to uphold a gubernatorial transportation veto last session are calling for a special session.

Representatives Kathy Tingelstad of Andover and Jim Abeler of Anoka want their former House colleague, Gov. Tim Pawlenty, to call a special session this fall to address transportation.

The two Anoka County Republicans are veterans of legendary transportation funding battles at the Legislature.

Tingelstad carried Northstar Commuter Rail legislation in the House, and was hammered by conservative House Republicans in the bitter House floor debates.

Both Abler and Tingelstad have broken ranks with their Republican colleagues in the past and voted for gas tax increases.

The two lawmakers numbered among the handful of moderate-leaning Republicans that DFLers looked to last session to join them in overriding Pawlentyís veto of the 2007 transportation bill.

But the two stood firm with the governor.

And they express no regrets.

"That was a very good vote," said Abeler of voting against the override.

The transportation bill hurt Anoka County, he insisted.

Tingelstad echoed similar sentiments.

"I donít really have any regrets about it," said Tingelstad, who was literally patted on the back by approving Republicans after the taking the difficult vote.

"It was the right vote at the time," she said.

Even had the 2007 transportation bill been overridden, Tingelstad pointed out, the extra funding wouldnít have come soon enough to impact 35W bridge maintenance, she opined.

(Abeler explained House DFLers took his override support for granted last session ó no one ever asked him what he thought of the transportation bill he was expected to take the tough vote for.)

The two lawmakersí call for a special session is both political and practical.

The voices often heard coming out of the House Republican caucus ó the ones saying lawmakers can wait until next session next February to address transportation ó are the voices of conservative Republicans, Tingelstad explained.

Last election trimmed the list of moderate House Republicans, she explained.

The Republicans that survived tend to come from strongly-held Republican areas of the state, Tingelstad explained.

But theirís isnít the only voice, Tingelstad indicated.

On National Night Out in her district, she sensed, in talking with voters, a kind of get-it-done mentality in regard to transportation funding, Tingelstad opined.

Abeler sees a certain practically, too, in having a special session instead of waiting.

If the Taxpayers League and other conservatives are worried about a gas tax increase, they should support a special session because the governor has a strong hand in controlling the agenda, Abeler argued.

Waiting until next session could mean facing possibly even bigger transportation tax increases, he warned.

The odds of a special session have been shifting over the past weeks since the 35W bridge collapse from almost a certainty to questionable, Tingelstad explained.

But now with the recent flooding in southern Minnesota, Tingelstad puts the odds of having a special session at 90 percent certain.

She views the 2007 transportation bill as a framework for one ó a starting point, anyway.

That bill contained a seven and a half cent gas tax increase, a half-cent seven-county metro sales tax ó adjacent counties could join ó a $20 motor vehicle sales tax increase, wheelage fee language, and the removal of caps on license tabs.

In his veto message, Pawlenty expressed disappointment that lawmakers "once again overreached."

Pawlenty has indicated qualified support for a gas tax increase.

Tingelstad wants the special session limited to one day with a pre-agreement between legislative leaders and the governor.

This is doable, she opined of having a special session.

At least one other House Republican agrees with her.

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