Fitzsimon File

Conventional wisdom about this legislative session is that state lawmakers will address the state's transportation problems with legislation that may include a multi-billion dollar highway construction bond, a reduction or elimination of the transfer of money from the Highway Trust Fund to the General Fund, and an appropriation of $25 million to jumpstart the Western part of the outer loop around Raleigh.

That's the hope of groups like the North Carolina Chamber, which lists highway construction as one of its legislative priorities this year, right after the perennial call for lower taxes on corporations. The highway paving industry is all for that too of course, as its lobbyists are making clear in the first week of the session.

Lawmakers were criticized last session for not passing any significant transportation initiatives and the pressure forced the creation of the 21^st Century Transportation Committee, a high-powered panel charged with making preliminary recommendations to the General Assembly this year and coming up with long term solutions to the state's transportation problems for consideration in the 2009 session.

The Committee's recommendations are less specific than expected but include a call for a statewide bond issue of an unspecified amount that could approach $2 billion. That money would go primarily for the construction of new highways, in keeping with the state's long outdated pave it first tradition.

One subcommittee recommended that part of the bond pay for mass transit projects in the state's urban areas, but another included no transit money at all in its bond plan. That one was chaired by Senator Clark Jenkins, the Senate's point person on most transportation issues.

The Committee also wants to end the annual transfer of $172 million from the Highway Trust Fund to the General Fund that was part of the legislation that created the Trust Fund in 1989. 

Republicans and many conservative Democrats have complained about the transfer for years and it has been portrayed by many right-wing think tanks and several gubernatorial candidates as stealing money from highway construction.

That's a ludicrous claim, but it is taking its toll on policymakers. Governor Mike Easley's budget calls for a $25 million reduction in the transfer next year, despite lower state revenue projections that may not provide enough money for mental health services, education, affordable housing and a reasonable raise for teachers and state employees.

The Committee also wants lawmakers to spend $45 million dollars to make the Western Wake Expressway the state's first toll road, forcing drivers already struggling with skyrocketing gas prices to pay a monthly fee to drive to work every day.

The Committee did approve an innovative plan by former State Transportation Secretary Sam Hunt to set up a special fund to help local governments pay for mass transit projects and give urban counties the authority to ask voters to approve a half-cent sales tax increase to raise revenue for transit.

Charlotte's successful light rail line that recently opened is funded with a sales tax increase that voters approved ten years ago. In November, voters soundly rejected a call to repeal the tax.

Hunt's plan to fund transit makes the most sense, but will be difficult to pass this session. The other recommendations ought to wait until next year too, when a new governor takes over and appoints a new Secretary of Transportation and DOT Board.

Nobody has yet explained how to cut $170 million from the state's general fund without hurting schools or public safety or human services, which are especially important given the struggles in the national economy and the foreclosure crisis.

Then there are the problems inside DOT itself that have shaken public confidence in the agency that's in charge of billions of tax dollars. Major repaving projects have been mishandled and had to be redone, wasting millions.

Political donors and fundraisers still dominate the Board, and most don't seem interested in following a state law that requires them to report their political fundraising activities.

Neither does DOT Secretary Lyndo Tippett, who also tried to prevent the release of an outside consultants report that found serious management and administrative problems in the department—hardly inspiring confidence that DOT can handle $2 billion in borrowed money for new highway projects, debt that the taxpayers will have to repay.

The one argument for new transportation spending that makes sense is a bond issue to speed up repairs of the state's crumbling bridges and existing roads. More than 2,600 bridges in the state are considered deficient and that number is going up not down, while the cost of repairs is rising faster than inflation.

Charlotte has proven that light rail can work in the state's urban areas. DOT has yet to prove that internal problems identified in recent scandals have been corrected and top officials are leaving their jobs in seven months anyway.

Lawmakers should address transportation problems this session, but not by spending billions more on building new roads selected by a Department that still needs a major overhaul.

Let's fix the bridges and the Department of Transportation first.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, May 15th, 2008 at 9:17 pm and is filed under Fitzsimon File. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.