[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

A rogue governor, for example, can simply decree that his Interstates will be Toll Roads.

Shouldn't there be legislative approval for such a conversion? after all, it could come under raising revenue, and the people should be involved in such a thing.

[BobL]

Amen.

The governor slipped this one past us when people weren't looking. We used to have a real simple system - pay as you go. If you want to build, you have to have the money. It worked great until about 12 years ago, when the state started diverting highway money. About 3 years ago the governor got people to agree to a constitutional amendment that allowed "creative financing" of highways. No one (other than me, I think) understood the implications. The amendment passed and the governor is now in the process of building a multi-hundred billion dollar toll road system - that, by definition, will result in the end of our recently functional freeway system.

He's doing it this way, so that he can go to the voters in 2006 and say (with a straight face) that he didn't raise their gas taxes. That little $400 monthly addition to our credit card bills is now a "user fee".