According to Senate Transportation Chairman Steve Murphy, Gov. Pawlenty isn’t relevant in the transportation debate. He’s about to find out that he couldn’t be more wrong.

The Minnesota Legislature’s upcoming battle over transportation spending could lack a key element of most Capitol funding decisions: negotiations with the governor.

After more than three years of failing to reach a deal on transportation funding with Gov. Tim Pawlenty and six months since the Minneapolis bridge collapse, top Democratic lawmakers say they’ll take a different route this year.

The 2008 legislative session convenes Feb. 12, but Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party lawmakers already are working on a road, bridge and transit funding bill and plan to send it to the governor early in the session.

Pawlenty’s role

Those ongoing discussions do not involve Republican Pawlenty.

“He’s not really a factor,” Senate Transportation Chairman Steve Murphy, DFL-Red Wing, said of Pawlenty. “He wants us to compromise to his position; that’s not going to happen. We’re going to pass a bill, the governor’s going to veto it, and we’re going to try to override it.”

Steve Murphy is a blogger’s dream because he’s a quote machine. If Sen. Murphy thinks that Gov. Pawlenty is irrelevant, then he’s about to get schooled on just how relevant a popular governor is this session.

He’s also about to find out just how unpopular tax increases are with taxpayers. If Sen. Murphy thinks that GOP activists will stay silent while he tries railroading a $1.5 billion a year tax increase, then he’s a bigger idiot than I already thought. Here’s what Tony Sertich said about their upcoming fight with Gov. Pawlenty:

Pawlenty’s “hard stance has kind of taken him out of the debate,” said House Majority Leader Tony Sertich, DFL-Chisholm. “Since the beginning, he’s been the roadblock, and he’s consistently, I think, taken himself out of the negotiations, but if he’s willing to enter back in, we’re always willing to listen,” he said.

McClung said: “We’re willing to back off of our long-held position against any tax, and then we would expect them to reciprocate.”

Notice that there isn’t a dime’s worth of difference between Tony Sertich & Sen. Murphy. Notice that Gov. Pawlenty is willing to compomise a little but that Sen. Murphy is taking a ‘my way or the highway’ approach to unnecessarily increasing taxes.

It won’t be difficult for Minnesotans to notice that (a) Gov. Pawlenty is being reasonable & (b) the Democrats want to dramatically increase taxes. I’ll be surprised if that won’t make life difficult for DFL candidates & DFL freshmen running for re-election the first time.

A recent decision by the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce to support a 7.5-cent-per-gallon gas tax hike also could change the dynamic at the Capitol this year. Previously, the influential business group backed only a nickel-per-gallon increase.

State Chamber President David Olson said business leaders are frustrated with the transportation stalemate and funding advocates’ “all-or-nothing approach.” The chamber will wait to release its full plan until after the legislative session begins.

This changes the dynamic but the DFL would be foolish to think that this gives them the ability to do whatever they want. FWIW, I fully expect them to misread the situation & to try passing their major tax increase.

Technorati: Gas Tax, Tax Increases, Steve Murphy, Tony Sertich, DFL, Tim Pawlenty, Chamber of Commerce, MNGOP