Senator Jensen reviews Legislative Session

With the 2016 legislative session over transportation remains the biggest outstanding issue facing the state, State Sen. Vicki Jensen told Dodge County Commissioners last week. Jensen addressed the board as part of her efforts to communicate with local government bodies in her district.
“I know the way it looked and felt,” Jensen said of the session. “Transportation is still the biggest outstanding issue we have.”
Legislators did agree on $600 million a year to keep the state from falling behind on transportation, she said. The problem was they couldn’t agree on how to pay for those projects, she said.
Everyone said new revenue was needed but no one would say “gas tax,” Jensen said. Using sales tax money, she said, would be using revenue new to transportation but it would not really be new revenue.
“If we use the surplus,” she added, “and we don’t have it constitutionally dedicated what happens if there is another deficit.”
She was also critical of how the Department of Transportation makes its decisions on which road projects are funded and said there needs to be more transparency in the process.
Two of the top criteria for projects, she said, are congestion and population growth which puts projects such as Highway 14 and those outstate at a disadvantage.
Commissioner John Allen was blunt in his assessment that of all the roads in Dodge County Highway 14 is not in the worst condition. 
“The county has worse roads than Highway 14,” Allen said. “As you argue over Highway 14 the rest of our roads are going to hell.”
“The problem is how we allocate the money, that has to be fixed,” Jensen responded. “But I agree with you, commissioner, that we have to get the money to everyone.”
The transportation discussion, Jensen said, came down to a transit issue everyone “everyone knew we couldn’t agree on.”
In other areas, Jensen said, did make some progress. A clarification of the buffer law was approved and the comment period on buffers is now open, she said.
There were discussions on healthcare affordability in the state and legislators removed liens being plac