Senator Tom Davis:

“As a threshold matter, I reject the premise — wrongly considered gospel by many — that insufficient funds are being appropriated.

Yes, our roads and bridges are in bad condition, but that’s because spending decisions are made by a politically motivated and legislatively controlled state agency.

Existing revenues are sufficient if we have the political will to spend them wisely.

For example, the Senate recently passed a budget appropriating an additional $69 million for roads and bridges. In addition, that budget includes a supplemental section (which appropriates tax revenue anticipated but not yet certified) providing an additional estimated $100 million.

In other words, instead of simply spending the additional revenue on special projects (as we usually do), we prioritized this year and spent taxpayers’ money on actual needs. And we will have opportunity to do the same in future budgets since the state Board of Economic Advisors projects that the average amount of recurring annual growth in General Fund revenues over the next 10 years will be $355 million. If just 30 percent of this annual growth is dedicated to roads and bridges, then after four years we will have increased transportation spending to the level targeted by Gov. Nikki Haley — without raising taxes.