Monday letters: We can’t trust SC lawmakers to spend gas tax wisely

The gas tax increase is a bad idea. We are being told that the 12-cent tax increase will be offset by an income tax decrease. Sounds good, in theory, but it won’t happen. Lawmakers say they want to raise the gas tax to repair our roads, but we have no assurances that that will happen.

What about all the millions that legislators want to give the State Transportation Infrastructure Bank? The Infrastructure Bank board is made up of legislative appointees. This board finances new road construction projects inconsistent with the Transportation Department’s priority list. What list does it use? The majority’s pet project list. What about the Transportation Commission? It is made up of, you guessed it, legislative appointees, some of whom are relatives or business associates of high-ranking legislators.

Please write, call or email your legislators asking them to oppose this bad idea until they make it clear to all of us that the money will be used to fix our roads, not build more roads we can’t maintain.

Johns Island

This story was originally published May 31, 2015 at 7:55 PM with the headline "Monday letters: We can’t trust SC lawmakers to spend gas tax wisely."