In This Issue:
- Regional Solicitation Approved by Transportation Committee
- Metropolitan Council Transitway Advancement Policy Approved
- IIJA Update: Water Infrastructure
- Metro Cities Welcomes New Government Relations Specialist
- House Republican Committee Leads
Regional Solicitation Approved by Transportation Committee
The Metropolitan Council Transportation Committee concurred with a recent recommendation by the Transportation Advisory Board (TAB) to fund 77 projects through the 2022 Regional Solicitation process. The slate includes $160 million for roadway projects, $81 million for transit and TDM projects, and $66 million for bicycle and pedestrian projects. Click HERE for more details. The solicitation is scheduled to be before the full Metropolitan Council on December 14.
The Transportation Committee also considered the allocation of 2023 and 2024 federal Carbon Reduction funds. At their meeting last month, the TAB recommended that an additional $5.5 million be allocated to include a Three Rivers Parks District project that was initially tied with another project and not funded. This would use 2025 Carbon Reduction funds and spend about 66% of that year’s allocation. The Transportation Committee chose to allocate all 2025 Carbon Reduction dollars to fund 14 total projects (including the Three Rivers project and two additional projects in Anoka and Victoria). Between Regional Solicitation and the Carbon Reduction funding, 55 cities and townships will have investments within their borders. Click HERE for more details.
Finally, the Committee concurred with the TAB in their decision to fund 38 projects through the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP). The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) funding has nearly doubled the available funding for this program. Click HERE for more details.
Click HERE for the presentation materials that offer a high-level summary for the regional solicitation, carbon reduction, and highway safety improvement program funding amounts.
Contact Mike Lund at [email protected] or 651-215-4003 with any questions.
Metropolitan Council Transitway Advancement Policy Approved
The Metropolitan Council adopted an internal policy regarding transitway advancement processes at their meeting on Wednesday evening. The policy requires the Council and local project sponsors to develop a risk register and establish roles and responsibilities that address project risks. The Council would include these elements in agreements with partners for each phase of a transitway project (project development, engineering, construction, and operation). Questions remain over what impacts (if any) this policy would have on local governments involved in transitway projects going forward. In their presentation of the business item, Metropolitan Council staff said that the policy formalizes long standing practice. The policy will now be documented as a proposed change to the Transportation Policy Plan (TPP).
Click HERE to view the Transitway Advancement Policy approved by the Metropolitan Council. Contact Mike Lund at [email protected] or 651-215-4003 with any questions.
IIJA Update: Water Infrastructure
Officials from several state agencies provided an update on Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) funding on November 17th. Presentations on water infrastructure investments were made by the Public Facilities Authority (PFA), Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), and Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA). Click HERE to view presentation materials from the IIJA update and HERE for important state agency contact information.
Contact Mike Lund at [email protected] or 651-215-4003 with any questions.
Metro Cities Welcomes New Government Relations Specialist
Ania McDonnell will join Metro Cities as a Government Relations Specialist on Monday, December 12th. Ania takes the position recently held by Charlie Vander Aarde, who left Metro Cities in October for a position with Tunheim Associates.
Ania was most recently a policy analyst for the Coalition of Greater MN Cities and was previously employed in the Office of Environment and Energy with Hennepin County. She also served as a government relations intern for Metro Cities during the 2017 legislative session. Ania holds a Masters’ Degree in Public Policy from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs and received a B.A. in Political Science from Hamline University.
Ania’s portfolio will include housing, economic development, redevelopment, regional community development policy, and other issues. We are very excited to have Ania join our team!
House Republican Committee Leads
Republican leads for 2023-24 House Committees were announced earlier this week, please see below. Metro Cities will provide further updates on the membership of legislative committees as information is made available.
Committee Chair
Agriculture Finance & Policy - Anderson, Paul
Capital Investment - Urdahl
Climate and Energy Finance & Policy - Swedzinski
Commerce Finance & Policy - O'Driscoll
Children and Families Finance & Policy - Daniels
Economic Development Finance - Koznick
Elections Finance & Policy - Torkelson
Environment and Natural Resources Finance & Policy - Heintzeman
Ethics - Torkelson
Health Finance & Policy - Schomacker
Higher Education Finance & Policy - O'Neill
Housing Finance & Policy - Johnson, B.
Human Services Finance - Neu Brindley
Human Services Policy - Kiel
Judiciary Finance & Civil Law - Scott
Education Finance - Kresha
Education Policy - Bennett
Labor and Industry Finance & Policy - McDonald
Legacy Finance - Backer
Public Safety Finance & Policy - Novotny
State and Local Government Finance & Policy - Nash
Sustainable Infrastructure Policy - Franson
Taxes - Davids
Property Tax Division - Quam
Transportation Finance - Petersburg
Veterans and Military Affairs Finance & Policy - Bliss
Ways & Means - Garofalo
Workforce Development Finance - Baker