A highway funding plan which raises taxes also has something everyone can love: better roads all around the state for years to come.
That's the pitch House Bill 1001 author State Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso, is hoping legislative colleagues will buy, as he and allies attempt to move one of the single largest taxing and spending measures in years through the House and Senate.
"I have enough faith in the people of Indiana, if they know where the money is coming from and where it's going, they will say let's do this," Soliday said in a briefing for Times editors on Friday.
Indiana House Speaker Brian Bosma last week said it was "politically in everyone's best interest" for lawmakers and the governor to embrace House Bill 1001. He has pitched it as the only responsible, long-term solution for raising the money needed to fix decaying roads and bridges.
Bosma has said passing the bill is the No. 1 priority for House Republicans this year.
The sweeping highway-funding bill would add $787 million to state road funds next fiscal year and at least a quarter billion dollars in each subsequent year. It also would add $240 million to local road funds in its first year and just slightly smaller amounts in subsequent years.
House Republicans rolled out their transportation funding plan at a news conference this morning in the Ways and Means Committee Room at the Statehouse.
Looking down the road
At its center is the idea of once again raising money for roads and bridges the old-fashioned way, which is through taxes on gasoline and other motor fuels.
Under the proposal, the state gasoline tax would be brought back to the same level in real dollar terms as it was in 2002, which is the last time it was increased. That would most likely hike it from its current 18 cents per gallon to about 22 cents. In future years it would be hiked in line with inflation.
The average Hoosier motorist pays about $110 in gasoline taxes per year. Forecasts say adding 4 cents per gallon would equate to about $24 more per year for the average motorist, Soliday said.
In addition, about 5 cents of every 7 cents in sales tax collected on gasoline would go to roads and bridges. Currently, only about 1 cent out of every 7 cents collected goes to roads and bridges. The rest goes to meet other needs, mainly to pay the state's Medicaid bill. In order to close the gap that would be left in Medicaid, the tax on cigarettes would be hiked by $1.
Those moves with taxes collected on gasoline and other fuels would raise $250 million for state roads and bridges and $209 million more for local roads. But the biggest benefit, according to Soliday, would be the availability of like amounts in future years. That is unlike Gov. Mike Pence's plan, which only provides four years of additional road funding.
"His drops dead in four years, and then you have nothing," Soliday said on Friday. "You are just kicking the can down the road."
All roads are local
The bill also includes important new tools for municipalities to start repairing and upgrading their local streets and roads.
Municipalities with populations of 20,000 and above would be able to enact an additional excise surtax/wheel tax. The surtax would be a flat fee of at least $7.50 and not more than $25 per vehicle. The wheel tax on buses, trailers and trucks would have rates between $5 and $40.
In addition, counties would be allowed to use a portion of their existing local option income tax for roads and bridges.
Those moves have the potential to raise hundreds of millions of dollars statewide for local streets and roads.
Where the roads might merge
House Bill 1001 also bears some similarities to the governor's plan. Both, for example, rely on kick-starting highway repair by tapping into Indiana's excess reserves.
Soliday's plan draws about $459 million from those reserves in the next fiscal year. It also has the potential to draw further funds from reserves anytime they pass a trigger of 11.5 percent of the state budget.
Pence's plan draws $241 million from those same reserves while borrowing $240 million more. House Bill 1001 calls for no borrowing.
Nevertheless, Soliday says there are the makings of a compromise between the House plan and the governor's.
"We've taken some pretty aggressive leadership here and said, 'Governor, this is the thing to do.' "
Studying up on tolls
House Bill 1001 also includes a provision to study possible tolling on Interstate 80/94, Interstate 65 and Interstate 70. Forecasts show tolling interstates 65 and 70 could pay for widening each to three lanes in each direction, as well as maintaining them in perpetuity, Soliday said.
"It is irresponsible not to study it," he said. "The knee-jerk reaction 'You can't toll this' is not facing up to the reality of where we are at."
The only tolled interstate in Indiana currently is the privately operated Indiana Toll Road, which is Interstate 90.
Voting for the future
There is a $2 billion roads plan proposed by House Democratic leader Scott Pelath, of Michigan City as well. But any of its provisions are likely only to be considered if Republicans need to round up Democratic votes at some point to bring one of their competing plans over the finish line.
And there is a roads plan from State Sen. Brandt Hershman, R-Buck Creek, which Pence has made part of his legislative agenda because of its similarity to his plan.
Soliday noted that more than half of states have raised their gasoline taxes in the past few years. And many of those states have conservative Republican legislatures, much like Indiana's. He noted that 85 percent of legislators standing for election after gas tax increases have been returned to office by the voters.
Soliday on Friday said his plan is an aggressive one that can allow Indiana to live up to its moniker as "The Crossroads of America" for years to come. He expressed confidence the bill will pass in the House.
"There are rumors I don't have the votes," Soliday said. "But we'll see what happens. I have the votes."