Minn. House passes transportation bill after debate over transit cuts and Anoka County footbridge mandate

The Minnesota House passed House File 14, a transportation budget bill, on June 6, 2025, by a roll-call vote of 78-55 after several hours of debate that included a failed amendment to remove a requirement directing Anoka County to use part of its sales-tax receipts for a footbridge project.

The bill funds a mix of trunk-highway and transit programs, preserves the greenhouse-gas mitigation law enacted in 2024, modifies electric-vehicle fees (tiered by vehicle MSRP), and includes named capital projects and regional allocations. Representative Cagle, the bill author, said the measure "is the result of a broken deal" but defended provisions that preserve operating adjustments and several local projects, including a $10,000,000 appropriation for Duluth Airport and a $40,000,000 earmark for Lakeville.

Supporters and opponents traded sharp critiques over where cuts landed. Representative Cagle said the bill "is balancing the transportation budget on the backs of transit riders," and Representative Jones warned the bill "does not bring us forward" on transit expansion. Advocates for transit stressed the loss of proposed bus-rapid-transit funding and said some of the state's…