Per a press release today from Rep. Jason Lewis (MN CD-02), the FY2018 federal budget request will not fund the Twin Cities' infamous Southwest Light Rail (SWLRT). This expected development is the result of at least four things:

• Rep. Lewis specifically requested Transportation Secretary Chao to not fund the nearly $2 billion boondoggle project, as it does next to nothing to solve congestion issues in the region.
• The entire MN state GOP Caucus did the same, and reminded the Secretary that there is no commitment from the State to subsidize the ongoing operating costs of the SWLRT, as is required.
• The Trump administration has made clear that it does not intend to fund projects that do not already have a federal Full Funding Grant Agreement - which  SWLRT does not have.

Of course, this is really the result of actions by the line's local champion - the unelected, unaccountable Met Council, which has broken promises, lied, and ignored lawsuits as it schemed to ram through SWLRT. The Met Council is now faced with having foolishly spent around $160 million to "plan" for the line.

That $160 million hole in our taxpayer wallet is a natural outcome of the broken governance structure of the Met Council.  That structure features a governing board filled with 17 patronage positions held by unelected friends of the Governor. With its complete lack of local elected officials who represent voters, is it any surprise the Council has utterly failed to build a true regional consensus around this wasteful project (or much else for that matter)?

When this story ends, how  will the Met Council pay for its malfeasance?

What direct recourse do citizens have to demand change and accountability to prevent more Met Council disasters like this?

President Trump today signed S. 496, the bill rejecting the last minute Obama rule that greatly expanded the geographic reach of Metropolitan Planning Organizations (e.g. the Twin Cities' Met Council).

 As I've detailed elsewhere, the Obama rule was a federal power grab intended to override local control of transportation and land use planning by creating massive, multi-state planning agencies that must answer to the federal government. In Minnesota, the end game would have been a single planning region stretching from west of St. Cloud, across the St Croix River into western Wisconsin. 

Some media outlets have stated that S. 496 has little meaning, particularly in Minnesota. That perspective, intentionally or not, overlooks the fact that Obama's goal with the original rule was to create a system that undermines local and state control. Stanley Kurtz's book, Spreading the Wealth, How Obama is Robbing the Suburbs to Pay for the Cities provides excellent background on this topic. 

Finally, we got the ball rolling on this back in January with the report, Midnight Monkey Business - Expanding the Met Council's Regional Boundary. A friend at the Center of the American Experiment, Kim Crockett, brought this to the attention of Rep. Jason Lewis, from Minnesota's 2nd Congressional District.  He championed the cause and introduced the bill that, after some modifications, passed unanimously out of the House committee, and passed the full House 417-3 - a shining star of bi-partisanship. 

This is a great bill that supports local control in the face of egregious federal overreach. Thank you Rep. Lewis for leading the charge!

UPDATE: Rep. Lewis has this to say today about the bill:

"I was glad to see that S. 496, our bill to restore local planning authority, was signed into law by the President today. People at home need accountability in their local government, especially when it comes to planning major projects, and this bill keeps decision-making in our neighborhoods where it belongs.

"As my first bill, it was a pleasure to take a lead on this issue with my colleague Rep. Dan Lipinski and with Senator Duckworth."

It appears that I missed the fact that an identical bill to reject Obama's expansion of Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) has already passed the Senate, back on March 8th. 

We have it from a good source that this Senate bill will be adopted by the full House this week and will be on its way to the President for his signature. 

This deals a bi-partisan blow to Obama's egregious overreach, and a rebuke to our local administrative state monster, the Met Council.

Nice work, Rep. Jason Lewis, who got this all rolling in the House earlier in the year.

On March 24th, 2017 Rep. Jason Lewis (MN-CD2) sent a letter to US Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao asking her to deny the full funding agreement to the Twin Cities' Southwest Light Rail line. 

Lewis references the Minnesota Legislature's excellent letter from March 17th, which delineates the many reasons why this funding should be denied. 

This is part of Lewis' developing efforts to reel in the out-of-control and unaccountable Met Council, which is our local "regional authority" that is doing its best to plan every aspect of your life, like it or not.

It's great to have a strong voice for local control in Washington. Let Rep. Lewis and your Minnesota legislators know that you support these efforts to...

Stop the Train!

On March 1st, in response to constituent requests, Rep. Jason Lewis of the 2nd Congressional District put forth a resolution to use the Congressional Review Act to reject the December 2016 Obama rule expanding the geography of planning organizations like our infamous Met Council. Rejecting this rule would prevent any future agency from issuing a substantially similar rule without Congressional legislation.

Most immediately this would this do away with the Met Council's power grab into Sherburne and Wright counties in the Twin Cities area, which was "oh by the way" announced by the Met Council at a Minnesota House committee hearing in late January.

Long term this resolution would be a major blow against the administrative state. Specifically, the Obama rule's intent is to create homogenous "planning" districts that sprawl across state lines, and obliterate local and state rights.

Passing Rep. Lewis' resolution would be a much needed, and long awaited blow against the Met Council, and the Left's plan to centralize our local and diverse communities.

You can learn more about the December Obama rule by viewing my presentation here.