Another year, another failure by the Mississippi Legislature to provide additional road and bridge funding.
That means, of course, that when it finally gets serious about doing so that the cost will be that much higher as the state’s highways and bridges continue to deteriorate.
This time it was because House Speaker Philip Gunn rightly thwarted Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves’ plan from the Senate, which was not a realistic proposal but merely a vehicle to help Reeves’ gubernatorial aspirations.
What ended up killing it was that it required a 50/50 match from cities and counties for any money received from the state. That’s unrealistic considering the budget crunch most Mississippi municipalities are in because of a decade of a stagnant economy. Columbia and Marion County both raised property taxes this past year as well as fees for things like garbage and water service; there’s simply no way they could have equally matched what the state provided for roads and bridges.
All the complicated maneuvering of the Senate plan was to avoid this vital necessity: Somewhere a tax has got to be raised, yet GOP leaders have signed pledges to outside interest groups to never do so, no matter how much their constituents need it.
Here’s the simple solution that avoids all the contortions of Reeves’ plan: Raise the gas tax. The Mississippi Economic Council, the state’s chamber of commerce that represents many huge industries, presented a plan three years ago that laid out both the need and what to do in detail.
Roads would be consistently funded, and it wouldn’t rob money from other needed areas. It’s paid for by the people using the roads, including out-of-state drivers passing through, and fills one of the most basic and needed governmental functions. Could there be a more sound reason to tax than this?
Yet Republicans are scared to do it for one cause: They think Tea Party-backed candidates in the vein of Chris McDaniel will run against them in the primary.
But is ensuring you are perpetually re-elected all governing is about? It shouldn’t be; this is a moment that calls for political courage and leadership to do the right thing for the state’s future by adequately funding roads, a most basic function of government.
And we don’t think anyone would lose nary a seat for voting in favor of that. As MEC leaders have frequently touted, not one legislator who voted for the gas tax the last time it was raised — as part of the landmark 1987 four-lane highway bill — lost re-election, despite the issue being just as contentious then as it is now. It’s time to do it.
That being said, doing nothing was better than what Reeves wanted.
Let’s hope legislative leaders cooperate on a real plan next year.
— Charlie Smith
