Pass the Senate version

The old saying is that you should be careful what you ask for because you just might get it. Something like that happened last week. Instead of getting one bill raising transportation revenue, we got two bills. The Senate-passed bill increases transportation funding by up to $1.5 billion within a four-year period. It does this by raising all new revenue. This bill provides enough funding to improve roads over the next few years. You will see a noticeable improvement in condition two or three years after it is enacted.

The House, rather than just agree with the Senate and move on to something else, passed a substitute bill that provides additional transportation funding, but it does so by taking it from other programs. It raises no new revenue. Instead, it diverts money from the general fund, schools, and local government operations and sends it to improve our roads. It could generate as much as $1.4 billion a year more to improve roads, but it will take eight years before the full amount is realized! That is an average increase of less than $200 million per year. Sorry, things will be getting much worse before they get better under this funding package.

Oh, one more thing. The Senate-passed bill provides funding for public transit through the agreed upon funding. It would be the first time since 1987 that transit has seen any increase in state funding. The House-passed bill? It decreases funding for transit.

The solution is easy. Call your elected officials; ask to speak directly to the legislator and tell them to pass the Senate-approved version of the funding package today. It provides adequate funding to improve our roads, additional funding for transit, and does so without taking money away from schools or local government or anything else. We are so close to having better roads and transit. Do it today.