Our View: Idaho Legislature’s inaction on roads hard to figure

Perhaps Idaho lawmakers think magical elves will descend upon the state’s roads and bridges one night and repair them. They don’t seem too eager to pass any real-world solutions.

Though he can hardly be called a tax-and-spender, Idaho Gov. Butch Otter put together a responsible transportation funding plan that would have raised the state’s gasoline tax 7 cents per gallon over three years. At that point, the tax still would have been 5.5 cents lower than Washington state’s. The tax hasn’t been raised since 1996, which helps explain why Idaho faces a nearly $250 million maintenance backlog. Otter also called for a combination of vehicle registration fees to raise additional money.

Otter’s plan was roadkill, with the House easily mowing it down.

On Tuesday, the House showed no mercy to a much meeker plan to raise the gas tax by two pennies. A total of eight amendments tried to cross the road, but only one got to the other side (a minor wording change).

Raise the tax by 5 cents. No.

Raise it 4 cents. No.

Phase the 4 cents in over two years. No.

Give local governments the option to raise the tax for local projects. No.

And so on.

The anti-tax rhetoric was so hot that House Majority Caucus Chairman Ken Roberts, R-Donnelly, wondered whether the 2-cent bump will even pass.

Road repairs are a lot more expensive today than they were in 1996. Most things are. But that reality is not accepted, it seems, by a majority of lawmakers. They retreat to the old chestnut that the Idaho Transportation Department would have plenty of money if it would just stop mishandling it. Responding to that complaint, Otter issued an executive order mandating performance reviews for the department’s projects before it is given new money. No sale.

It seems clear that as long as a solution is spelled T-A-X, the answer will always be N-O – even if that tax is the most logical revenue source for road maintenance.

The price of a gallon of gasoline rose higher than $4 not too long ago. Then it plunged to under $2. It has climbed a bit since. If the Legislature had secretly passed a nickel increase – let alone two pennies – how many Idahoans would even have noticed? The state has already missed out on tens of millions of dollars by idling during those price fluctuations, not to mention the jobs and economic stimulation that would have come from road projects.

It appears the Legislature will remain asleep at the wheel.

When it wakes up, the roads will still be in disrepair.