The transportation funding bill, which the Minnesota House and Senate passed Monday to override Gov. Tim Pawlenty's veto, includes a phased-in gas tax and other funding mechanisms that will generate an additional $6.6 billion in funding over the next 10 years. Among the bill’s main points, according to the Public Information Services office of the Minnesota House of Representatives:

• The gas tax will climb by 2 cents on April 1, followed by another 3-cent increase on Oct. 1.
• The bill creates a $25 credit for the two lowest tax brackets to help offset the gas tax increase.
• Funding for $1.8 billion in trunk highway bonding is included for fiscal years 2009 through 2018, with $1 billion of that in the first two years. A gas tax debt surcharge of up to 3.5 cents will be established to repay the bonds.
• Vehicle tab fees on newly registered vehicles will be imposed and tab fee caps will be removed.
• The bill authorizes counties in the Twin Cities metro area to impose a .25 percent metropolitan transportation sales tax without referendum and a $20 excise tax on vehicles sold at retail. In other Minnesota counties, a tax of up to .5 percent could be raised by voter referendum only for specific projects.

What do you think of the gas tax? Were you for it or against it? What do you think of the pressure Minnesota Republicans were getting not to support the bill?