Cliché alert. Here it comes. Those who enjoy good laws and good sausage should not allow themselves to watch either being made.
It’s a well-worn saying that implies that a good outcome is worth an ugly process. I generally agree with the sentiment. I’ve never been much of a process guy. I am not a man of high principle.
But the work around that Republicans on the Joint Finance Committee have come up with to get to some form of transportation tax increase has even me a little concerned. But just a little. If it works, I’ll eat the sausage.
Some quick background. The state’s roads are a mess. By some accounts we rank 49th in overall road conditions and public transportation could use major investments as well. Bus rapid transit in Madison is a good idea but nobody knows where the money will come from to make it happen.
The state gas tax, by far the major source of road money, hasn’t been raised since 2006 and so a major infusion of cash is necessary to fix the problems. The most efficient short-run solution is an increase in the gas tax and Gov. Tony Evers proposed an 8-cents-a-gallon increase in his budget.
But Evers’ sound proposal has run into two realities. First, it’s unpopular. Voters want two things: the roads fixed and no gas tax increases to pay for that. They oppose both the disease and its cure. Which leads to the second problem. No doubt reading those polls, Republicans, especially in the Senate, are adamantly opposed to any gas tax increases.
And there’s a third issue. In the long run, the gas tax isn’t the solution either. As vehicles become more fuel-efficient and manufacturers turn to electric motors, the rough link between how much you drive and how much you pay is becoming more tenuous. The best solution is a small charge per vehicle mile travelled (VMT). The number of miles driven can be easily downloaded in real time using current technology.
And that’s what makes the Joint Finance Committee action worth considering, despite its odious process. The JFC would allow itself to impose a VMT tax without going to the rest of the legislature or the governor. It also allows itself to impose tolling and other fees but not an increase in the gas tax.
That sets up a scenario where only nine of the 12 Republicans on the committee would have to vote for it. Or, if the four Democrats on the committee continue their support for necessary tax increases — as they have responsibly done so far — they’d need only five Republicans to vote for it.
Not only would that be a smelly process, but it would be rancid politics. But again, do you want the roads fixed or not?
If this unusual special process were to stick — it would have to pass the full Legislature in the budget and the governor would have to refrain from line-item vetoing it — it seems to me that Evers should insist on at least three things. First, he has to be involved. Joint Finance shouldn’t be allowed to impose a tax without the approval of the governor. Second, he should demand that a fair share of the revenues go to bolster transit, like Madison’s bus rapid transit. And third, the special process should be sunsetted at the end of this term. This is an odd process designed to break an impasse in the current political environment, but it’s crummy institutional design.
It’s a fair guess that even with that, this thing would be subject to a state constitutional challenge, as it deserves to be. But here’s the ultimate question. Would you be willing to get better, safer roads and much improved mass transit paid for in an equitable way in exchange for a somewhat perverse process to get there?
If you’re a more principled person than I am, you might not. You will say that the end never justifies the means. For me, a man who believes that the end actually does justify the means sometimes, it’s a close call. But I would say yes.