Morton J. Marcus is an economist formerly with the Kelley School of Business, Indiana University. His column appears in Indiana newspapers.
          Evan Bayh has made it official: he will not run for governor in 2016. His reason: he could not have the impact he would like to have since the General Assembly will be firmly in the hands of the Republicans. This is consistent with his long-term position as a figurehead rather than a leader of the Democratic Party.

          In effect, Bayh has conceded political control to Indiana Republicans for the next decade. What an opportunity for Republicans! Now they can be true to themselves over the next few years. Now they can come out in support of toll roads for Indiana.

          If you recall, Governor Mitch Daniels had the courage to do what Democrat and Republican governors and legislators would not do; he found a way to increase tolls on the Indiana Toll Road. He leased the Toll Road to a private conglomerate with the understanding they would raise fees for driving that highway.

          Daniels supported building a new “outer loop” or “Commercial Corridor” around Indianapolis that would be tolled. He entertained the idea of making I-69 from Indianapolis to Bloomington and Evansville a toll road. Further, he got the Iliana Expressway started; that road, if ever built, is likely to be a toll facility.

          The troglodytes in the legislature cannot bear the thought of tolls, particularly where they make the most sense - - in highly congested, well-traveled areas like I-69 from Fishers to Indianapolis and from Indianapolis to Bloomington.  Instead, they fall back on the standard INDOT solution: more lanes of concrete.

Indiana widens I-70 to a ridiculous extreme between I-465 and the Indianapolis Airport; the Borman (I-80/94) is now a wider raceway from I-90 west to the Illinois border; lanes are added to I-69 around Fort Wayne and to I-65 around Lebanon. There seems to be no end to our appetite for added concrete.

          No provision is made for tolls on US-31 as it is upgraded through Hamilton County. The widely acclaimed US-31 bypass around Kokomo is not set up for tolls. There seems to be no thought given to how we finance serious maintenance, let alone snow removal and grass cutting, on these bloated byways.

          The opportunity exists now, thanks to Evan Bayh, for Republicans who believe in beneficiary taxation to stand tall and vote for tolls to maintain our interstate quality highways. They have safe seats with little chance of Democrat incursions into their lairs of electoral security. They can vote for what they espouse: charging people who use superior public facilities for that privilege.

          The few remaining Democrat office holders will bemoan tolls being unfair to the poor. Yet we do not hear them complaining about the State Fair charging admission without regard to income. We do not hear about the Pacers and the Colts putting high prices on seats paid for with heavy subsidies from taxpayers.

          Tolls give us efficiency. They are environmentally sound and technologically feasible. What’s not to like about them?