Neither plan represents a permanent solution to the state s transportation funding problem. Patching the potholes created by I-695 in the state s transportation funding plans is one of the major challenges of the current legislative session. With the House divided evenly between Republicans and Democrats, the leaderships of both parties have presented transportation budgets. The House gets the first crack at crafting spending bills this session. Getting a handle on transportation budgeting is a bit more difficult than usual this year.
Transportation is funded for the most part by dedicated revenues, outside of the general fund.
Traditionally, the House Appropriations Committee, which oversees the general fund budget, has had little say on transportation matters. This year, however, because many legislators want to use general fund monies to mitigate the impact of I-695 on transportation, the Appropriations Committee is playing a significant role. The revenues for the competing House supplemental transportation plans are shown in Table 1. The first two columns show revenues for the remainder of this biennium. The final two columns look out an additional two biennia, through FY 2005.