Pat Driscoll nails it in this article. It sums up the long and short of our Legislature’s total failure to address fundamental solutions to our sweeping transportation problems in Texas. The diversion of yet another $1.6 BILLION (in addition to the $10 billion previously) away from transportation in the new budget demonstrates a complete betrayal of the Legislature’s fiduciary duty to fund our highway system properly with the taxes we already pay. Lest we forget the $14 billion surplus…the surplus coupled with the diversions, and the A&M study PROVE without a DOUBT there’s plenty of money for highways WITHOUT THE NEED TO TOLL A SINGLE ROAD.

We don’t need a new TAX on driving, what we need is a NEW Legislature…let the anti-incumbent drumbeat begin and let’s have it culminate at the ballot box! Potential candidates: start your engines, it’s time to throw the bums out!

Link to blog and story here.

Draining the highway fund
By Pat Driscoll
Express-News
July 09, 2007

State lawmakers did plenty of bellyaching about toll roads in the spring legislative session, yet curiously were bent on hamstringing transportation funding more than ever.

Draining more money from the highway fund and continuing to hobble the 20-cent a gallon gas tax, while at the same time clumsily trying to slow down private-sector toll projects, may sound like lip service to average Joes.

But lawmakers in the thick of a labyrinth of transportation bills last session put it this way: Legislators, collectively, are … well … stupid when it comes to tackling transportation woes.

See today’s story.

• Compare current and upcoming highway fund diversions
• See yearly diversions going back to their 1986 start