Steve Kelley Tax Plan

I like Senator Steve Kelley. He is a great champion of public education. I think he would make a good governor. Unfortunately I don't think he has a chance to gain the Democratic nomination. But he has a good idea in the Star Tribune today about funding stadiums. I am pretty much opposed to funding stadiums with tax-payer dollars; it is just welfare for the rich. But I am also resigned to the fact that it is going to happen eventually, and Kelley has proposed a most palatable solution. Raise taxes in the entire metro area to fund stadiums and transportation. Do it all together. Here is what Kelley says:

The plan would include a half-cent seven-county metro-area sales tax that would pump more than $100 million into metro transit development every year. The metro solution pays the costs of the Twins and Vikings stadiums, with roofs, within the next decade and avoids hundreds of millions of interest payments and other financing costs.

With these additional dollars, the Twin Cities metro area could quickly move forward on a comprehensive transit system, including the Central Corridor, Red Rock Corridor in the East metro, the Rush Line to the north, potential light rail in the western suburbs and expanded metro busways. As high gasoline prices put the squeeze on family budgets, transit options are essential for our future. It is time to see these investments to our regional infrastructure together, because they will help maintain our ability to compete with other regions.

As Kelley notes, Pheonix, Denver, and Seattle have all implemented similar tax plans to jointly fund stadiums and transportation. Its time for us to do the same. Kudos to him for having the courage as a candidate to propose raising taxes as part of a grand vision.