by Darryl Wilkinson
This website brought to you in part by the following sponsor:
Find out how to advertise here - Email us! [email protected]
by Darryl Wilkinson
We’re going to hear lots of ideas about ways to address Missouri’s highways. At least I hope so.
The overwhelming defeat of Proposition B last week is no signal that people are satisfied with the conditions of our roads and bridges. Rather, the failure of the issue (72.5% nay, 27.5% yea) is a clear signal that voters demand that money invested in highways be efficiently spent on highways only.
House Republicans have quickly submitted a plan in the wake of last week’s election. Here’s a few points worth consideration:
Reform how Missouri’s Highway Commission is appointed. Every two years allow each party in the Senate to nominate 6 names to the Governor. He then will pick two names from those lists, one Democrat and one Republican. Both parties have been guilty of stacking the commission with their people who watched out for the special interests and even held and attended fundraisers for both parties. This is obviously something that has not helped us build highways in an objective manner. Commissioners must be excluded from the political process.
Stop the diversion. No state agency or department should receive any funds intended for transportation. Too often the Department of Revenue and the Auditors office have skimmed money from MoDOT’s budget.
Bind MoDOT to a specific plan. Voters should be assured that 90% of the revenue raised by any transportation tax be bound to building roads. None of these funds should be diverted to other projects until all the promised projects are completed. The remaining 10% of revenue should be set aside in an emergency fund for unanticipated needs. If funds are diverted to other state needs not in the original transportation plan, collection of the new tax is suspended. No plan is to be longer than five years in duration.
Dedicate 10% of the growth in general revenue to transportation. Do not supplement the rest of the state budget with transportation dollars. Missouri must gradually shift its spending habits to grow the money available for highways without dramatically reducing funds for other vital state services.
More accountability. MoDOT and the highway commission should be required to annually report to the legislature the planned project list for each upcoming year. The legislature should not be able to make any changes, only vote to accept or reject the plan. This would keep legislators from picking out roads but allow more elected representation in the planning process.
I don’t know your politics; I can’t quite define my own. But it seems to me that the points above are noteworthy, regardless of what party’s address is on the letterhead. And I choose not to share other information received here in the wake of last week’s election which makes for good reading in terms of mudslinging.
Let’s urge our elected people to keep the focus on the work, not on politics. Voters want changes and demand steps that will restore credibility to MoDOT. Obviously, our roads still need to be fixed.
Let’s also hope that legislators take notice that voters are disgusted with the shell games being played with our tax dollars in other areas — like how state lottery revenue promised to education never quite seems to correspondingly boost the overall total being spent on education. But that’s another story.