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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Sweeping road-funding plan falls one vote short in Idaho Senate panel

BOISE – A sweeping transportation funding bill calling for hundreds of millions in bonding, local-option taxes, funding shifts and an array of other moves to fix Idaho roads fell one vote short in a Senate committee on Thursday.

The giant bill, SB 1188, died on a 4-5 vote; a less ambitious $300 million plan to bond against Idaho’s federal highway allocations for major road projects then cleared the Senate Transportation Committee, 5-4.

Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, long an advocate of fixing Idaho’s roads, voted against both bills. She said Idaho’s road system should remain “user pay,” and gas taxes – which traditionally have funded Idaho roads – should be increased if roads need improvements, rather than dipping into state general funds.

“Schools don’t have a gas tax, Health and Welfare doesn’t have a gas tax, DEQ doesn’t have a gas tax,” said Keough, who chairs the joint legislative committee that writes the state budget. “They don’t have a tool like the gas tax. Taking the money out of the general fund diminishes the potential funding for every other agency.”

Keough said she wasn’t convinced that even the smaller bonding bill wouldn’t be amended to add in state general funds.

Gov. Butch Otter, too, has been a strong foe of dipping into the state’s general fund for transportation, calling for sticking with a “user pay” approach.