BOHICA, Baby!

Here it comes, again...

A legislative committee agreed Thursday that the state should crank up spending on transportation by 40% a year to cover longtime funding shortages but offered no ways to come up with the extra money.

There's a REASON that they 'offered no ways to come up with the money:'

Funding options will be developed this year - after most committee members and the two candidates for governor stand for election Nov. 7.

The portion of a draft report adopted unanimously by the Committee on Transportation Needs and Financing said the state needs another $698.2 million a year for the construction and maintenance of highways and local roads and mass transit programs. That would bring the annual budget for that work to $2.41 billion, or 40% more than the current $1.71 billion.

Of course, it's not "fixing" the roads which gets the big bucks:

The bulk of the added money - $544.6 million - would go toward highway construction.

...which highways WILL have to be maintained, but no problem, THAT'S several elections away...

Coming up with $698.2 million would be the equivalent of increasing the gas tax by 21.2 cents a gallon, to 54.1 cents, or nearly quadrupling the $55 annual vehicle registration fee.

The report blames the shortages on declining revenue and a number of other problems. Transportation is largely funded with gas taxes and registration fees, but gas tax revenue is declining because people are driving less in the face of high gas prices.

Yah. So with people driving less, we need ......MORE ROADS!!!