GOV. CARNAHAN SIGNS HIGHWAY BONDING BILL; MEASURE WILL GENERATE $2.25 BILLION FOR ROADS

SCOTT CITY -- Gov. Mel Carnahan signed into law Tuesday a new $2.25 billion highway funding bill that will plunge Missouri into debt to pay for road and bridge improvements across the state.

Even before the ink was dry, lawmakers were talking of developing a new transportation plan that could call on voters to raise taxes to pay for future improvements.

Sen. James Mathewson, the Sedalia Democrat who co-sponsored the highway bill, said he plans to introduce an improvements plan next year that would focus on all types of transportation that would include roads, airports, railroads and mass transit.

Carnahan signed the bill with fanfare at four stops across the state. He signed the bill during ceremonies in St. Joseph, Jefferson City and Springfield before winding up with an afternoon stop outside the Missouri Department of Transportation highway maintenance shed in Scott City.

Carnahan was accompanied by key state House and Senate Democrats and top officials of MoDOT. Also on hand was state Treasurer Bob Holden, a Democratic candidate for governor.

Southern Missouri state Reps. Marilyn Williams, Phillip Britt and Don Koller also spoke to reporters, as did state senators Jerry Howard and Danny Staples.

In signing the bill, Carnahan authorized bond sales through summer 2005. The law authorizes the immediate sale of $250 million in bonds to speed up road and bridge projects already under way. MoDOT can then issue up to $500 million in highway bonds annually from 2001 to 2006, but the money only can be spent on projects that are part of an annual highway plan submitted by MoDOT and approved by the Legislature, the governor said.

"This provision provides a high degree of accountability for the use of these new highway funds," he said.

Carnahan and key lawmakers said bonds were a short-term approach to highway construction. They said the bonds won't provide one cent of new funding. The bonds plus interest must be repaid from existing state and federal revenues.

"Clearly, this legislation won't meet all of our state's transportation needs, but it is a very good start," the governor said.

Carnahan and the lawmakers said they believe the highway funding measure includes provisions to hold MoDOT spending accountable to the Legislature and the public.

"We are in a confidence-building stage," he said. Republican lawmakers, Carnahan said, pushed for immediate release of some highway bonds to fund road projects.

Democratic lawmakers embraced the idea, which was added to the bill, the governor said. "It was a good idea," said Carnahan.

S. Lee Kling, a St. Louis merchant banker who chairs the Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission, acknowledged after the press conference that the initial projects chosen for the bond funding by the highway department won't please everyone. But Kling said it is important that MoDOT spend the money on the road and bridge projects that are needed most. Projects, he said, won't be chosen on the basis of a rural-urban split.

House Speaker Steve Gaw, D-Moberly, said there has been a lot of finger pointing in the past over the failed, 15-year highway plan.

Gaw said he wouldn't have supported the highway bonds measure without legislative oversight. "I wasn't ready to write a blank check," he said.

Gaw said highway bonds aren't the ultimate solution. "At some point you have to pay things back," he said.

Henry Hungerbeeler, director of MoDOT, said his agency will be accountable in its spending.

"We don't think we have been given a blank check," he said. "We are just getting to use our money a little sooner."

Earlier in the day, Mathewson talked about the need for increased funding for transportation improvements in the state. "I have made the commitment to introduce a total transportation plan," said Mathewson. "We are going to have to create a cash flow for this and submit it to a vote of the people."

Such a plan could include a tax increase, officials have said.

Said Mathewson, "Bonding is a positive thing today to jump-start construction, but we have yet to pay the bonds back, and Missourians should know this is not the final answer."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.