When Republicans and Democrats in the Minnesota Legislature voted to override Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s veto and increase the gas tax for the first time in 20 years, they did so because they understood that the state’s transportation infrastructure was showing the wear that results from years of neglect.

The Interstate 35W Bridge in Minneapolis had collapsed, and several other bridges around the state were identified as “fracture critical.” Since passage of the Omnibus Transportation Bill, the Highway 23/Desoto Bridge in downtown St. Cloud and the Lowry Avenue Bridge in Minneapolis have been closed because of structural defects. Traffic on the John A. Blatnik Bridge in Duluth will be restricted this year while workers repair its structural defects.

Structurally unsound bridges, crumbling and unsafe highways throughout Minnesota and severe traffic congestion in the Twin Cities: It is clear that Minnesota’s transportation system is in desperate need of attention. Even opponents of the Omnibus Transportation Bill conceded that point.

Without passage of the 2008 Omnibus Transportation Funding Bill, the Minnesota Department of Transportation would have been compelled to cancel projects to free up money to pay for failing bridges. Highway projects around the state would have been forced to wait another 10 to 20 years for completion.

For the Minnesota Legislature, the choice was straightforward. Lawmakers could pass a bill that would let MnDOT begin preparing our transportation infrastructure for future growth, or they could do nothing and wait for another disaster.

Prosperity is not a byproduct of procrastination. The traffic congestion that now plagues the Twin Cities — an important economic generator for Minnesota — is not a benefit that makes businesses choose to expand in Minnesota or move here. Undersized highways do not promote safety or encourage companies to locate in greater Minnesota.

Clearly, there was no suitable alternative available.

While the decision by Democrats and some Republicans to pass the transportation bill in spite of a gubernatorial veto may have angered Pawlenty and the House Republican caucus, the choice they made to vent their displeasure was ill-conceived. To run television ads blaming those who voted for the transportation bill for high gasoline prices in Minnesota was foolish. In the ads, the facts are so distorted that the ads are in danger of being dishonest.

The Minnesota legislators who voted for the gas tax increase are not to blame for high world oil prices. The state tax on gasoline inched up only 2 cents a gallon on April 1. During the 20 years the gas tax was 20 cents a gallon, the average pump price for gasoline climbed from 95 cents a gallon in 1988 to about $3.60 in 2008.

The 8.5 cents that’ll be added to the gas tax by 2013 is not responsible for the meteoric rise in gasoline prices. The price that we pay for gasoline today has less to do with the modest gas tax increase imposed on us by the Legislature than with growing international competition for a limited resource.

Factual distortions and political pandering will not help us solve Minnesota’s transportation problems. And those who engage in that activity do us a disservice.