House panel refers bill to repeal retail delivery fee, alter transportation funding

Representative Jim Joy introduced House File 5 on Jan. 22, 2025, telling the House Transportation Finance and Policy Committee the bill "is making Minnesota affordable" and that it would repeal the state's retail delivery fee, halt automatic motor-fuels indexing and pursue other tax changes tied to transportation funding.

The committee voted by voice to refer the bill to the House Taxes Committee. Representative Jim Joy made the motion to refer House File 5; the motion carried by voice vote and the chair announced, "The bill is referred to the committee on taxes." No roll-call tally was recorded in the hearing.

A central provision in the bill would repeal the 50¢ retail delivery fee enacted in 2023 and move some existing transportation taxes and allocations, including the motor vehicle rental tax, into the Transportation Advancement Account (TAA). Representative Joy said the bill also would pursue a "full elimination of Social Security tax" promised in campaigns and would end an automatic inflator on the gas tax so lawmakers, rather than an automatic formula, set future increases.

Nonpartisan fiscal staff and stakeholders described how the bill changes the flow of money to state and local transportation funds. "In your packets you should see two spreadsheet items," said the committee's fiscal analyst, Mr. Lee, who walked members…