Gambling Can Fix Roads
31st January, 2008
some Republican state lawmakers proposed fixing Iowa’s problem with roads and bridges by using taxes gained from the gambling commissions, instead of asking for more money for Iowa’s citizens.
On Wednesday Ron Wieck, the Republican leader in the Iowa Senate stated that the “fragile condition” of Iowa’s transport infrastructure shouldn’t demand higher taxes from Iowans; instead the funding should come from the taxes gained from gambling commissions in the country.
The Department of Transportation reported that there is the shortage of $27 billion needed for road construction and repair projects for the next twenty years with at least $200 million pa extra cash.
There has been a proposal before suggesting to fix a problem by raising tax on diesel fuel and gasoline, but the idea got rejected by the governor and a study committee of lawmakers in 2007. Nevertheless, there ahs been discussions that such measures might be necessary in some time to come.
The Governor Chet Culver is considering other options, such as higher vehicle registration fees.
Senate has now proposed a plan that seems to have a good potential to sort out the problem, which is transferring $90 million gained from the gambling taxes to the Road Use Tax Fund.
Sen. Pat Ward said this: "We should prioritize bridges and roads above other things."
To this Sen. Mike Gronstal of Council Bluffs responded by calling the proposal "a campaign gimmick."
"Their proposal shows again that the Senate Republicans are not interested in fulfilling commitments that the Legislature made to our schoolchildren, college students, senior citizens, parents, teachers and other Iowans. Senate Democrats remain committed to developing a bipartisan proposal to ensure we have the funding necessary to ensure the safety of Iowa's roads and bridges," stated Sen. Gronstal.
