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Idaho lawmakers say stimulus won’t fix road problems

BOISE, Idaho — Some Idaho legislators say federal stimulus money to fund transportation could mean problems for the state because it won’t address Idaho’s road maintenance needs.

Senate Transportation Committee Chairman John McGee told the Associated Press that the stimulus money is only for projects that begin immediately.

“It happens once and it goes away,” the Caldwell Republican said Monday. “This is for shovel-ready projects, you can’t use it for long-term maintenance.”

An Idaho Transportation Department audit released in January found that the agency is falling behind in its ability to maintain Idaho’s 5,000 miles of highways. The audit found that the Transportation Department’s annual funding, about $500 million, is insufficient to maintain and preserve the state’s roads.

According to research from Federal Funds Information for States, a service of the National Governors Association and the National Conference of State Legislatures, the transportation portion of the stimulus money offered to Idaho would include nearly $220 million for highways, bridges and public transit.

McGee said the state doesn’t have the resources for both new construction and to keep up with maintenance. McGee didn’t say whether he thought the state should turn down federal money for new transportation projects.

McGee said he thinks legislators realize that the state has a serious transportation problem.

“The longer we put it off the more it’s going to cost Idahoans,” he said. “It’s either pay me now or pay me much more later.”

McGee’s counterpart in the House, Rigby Republican Rep. JoAn Wood, said that new construction funded by the federal stimulus package would simply add new maintenance problems.

“And that’s not good planning,” she said.

Wood said that if all the new money goes to one-time projects, the Department of Transportation will have to funnel most of its funds to fight the maintenance backlog.

A call for comment to the state Department of Transportation was not returned Monday.

Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter has sent lawmakers his own transportation funding bills, aimed at raising a total of $174 million annually after five years of gradual increases, including a measure to boost the gas tax to 35 cents from 25 cents, hiking car and truck registration fees and levying a tax on rental cars.

Otter spokesman Jon Hanian said the stimulus doesn’t change the governor’s plan.

“We are continuing our effort to raise revenue for transportation,” Hanian said.

Wood said her committee is focusing on getting state transportation through the next year. She said the governor’s five-year plan could lock the state into something it doesn’t need long term.

“First, people want to see a response to that audit,” Wood said.

House Speaker Lawerence Denney, R-Midvale, said nothing has changed yet with the state’s transportation plans but he said the governor’s tax and fee increases could be harder to pass now that the stimulus bill has passed Congress.

Still, he said if the state has to use the stimulus money for new construction, the maintenance problems will continue to exist.

Jerry Breeden of The Trucker staff can be reached for comment at [email protected].