Various politicians are talking about “different ways” to fund transportation. Among them, Speaker Bill Howell, who says it will take awhile.
“There’s no way to fix all this in one legislative session,” Howell said, indicating it may require a multiyear strategy from legislators.
Howell, who is drafting his own proposals to address transportation, said the legislature must restore the Transportation Trust Fund before anything else can really be done.
Although money from the trust fund is supposed to be spent only on transportation, the legislature in recent years has had to raid the fund to balance spending in the rest of the budget.
Reviving a buzz word from the 2000 presidential race, Howell said the legislature needs to create a “lock box” to “assure people that the money that goes into the trust fund is going to transportation.”
The question I have is was Howell one of those lawmakers who voted for budgets that raided the transportation trust fund? Anyone know?