The governor's chief of staff called the votes this morning to introduce and send to the full House the governor's new three-year transportation funding proposals "a good gesture on behalf of the committee and the body to allow the issue to go to a vote before the whole House." Said Jason Kreizenbeck, "This is an issue the governor's been talking about the whole time he's been in office. We've had several hours of hearings. I think people are well-versed in it and ready to discuss it."

Between the two new bills - three-year phased increases in the gas tax and vehicle registration fees - the  bill to eliminate the ethanol exemption and Otter's hope to shift Idaho State Police funding off the gas tax and onto the general fund, freeing up millions more for road work, the governor's revised plan would raise an additional $130 million a year by the third year. "We've attempted to find a compromise between where we were and where the Legislature was," said Kreizenbeck. Otter originally proposed a five-year, $174 million increase in transportation funding.

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