For example, it is not necessary to submit the statewide road plan for voter approval. Let the Legislature take the tough votes they were elected to make. For the last four years lawmakers ducked the challenge. The second piece, specific transportation fixes tailored to local needs, is best decided closest to home. That means local, additional tax questions on the ballot.
Voters know how much congestion relief they are willing to buy.
Financing the statewide plan has stopped good ideas in the past. The pain is spread around, as it should be. Locke first started talking about raising gas taxes in 1997 and proposed a major increase in 1998. Gas taxes are always unpopular, but Republicans and Democrats now have to act together to deliver the results motorists demand. Gas taxes are user fees that let motorists who use the roads most pay more.