SOME LEADERSHIP ON HIGHWAYS IS NEEDED

It would be easy to compare the recent handling of highway programs in Missouri to a poorly played football game. Such a comparison would be full of fumbles and missed signals.

To review: Missouri voters approved Proposition A in 1987. This proposition was a limited highway program to be funded by an increase in the state's fuel tax. In 1992, the Legislature adopted what has become known as "the 15-year plan" for upgrading highways all over the state. To fund the 15-year plan, legislators -- both Republicans and Democrats -- approved a phased-in additional six-cent increase in the fuel tax that is paid every time someone fills up a vehicle's tank.

The 15-year plan made a lot of bold promises for things such as four-lane highways connecting every town of 5,000 or more population. Several months ago, the Missouri Department of Transportation announced that the 15-year plan was running way behind in funds to pay for everything that had been promised. How this happened is still a pretty muddy issue -- and there is a sizable number of critics who say the money is there and MoDOT is wrong.

In any event, MoDOT decided to scrap the 15-year plan, which we are now told also included all those projects approved by voters in 1987 when they passed Proposition A. It is surprising that there has been little discussion about why MoDOT could toss a plan put in place by legislators in 1992, but that may become more of an issue as the search for a workable highway plan continues.

In place of the 15-year plan, MoDOT has come up with what it calls "the five-year plan." This is a pared-down version of the 15-year plan, and there is enough highway funding to pay for the five-year plan, MoDOT says.

Still, there are any number of key Missourians who think there is a need to come up with -- what else? -- a plan.

The governor appointed a committee that was supposed to come up with the plan to end all plans last year. That committee came up with recommendations for everything except a way to pay for it. The idea of a one-cent increase in the state sales tax was floated just long enough to be shot down by virtually anyone who wasn't on the committee. This month, the governor held a transportation conference in an effort to get some movement on a plan. And MoDOT -- even though it has its five-year plan in place -- has come up with a statewide advisory committee to -- what else? -- come up with a plan.

Doesn't this sound like a football coach's worst nightmare?

Throughout the recent months of plans and talk of even more plans, there has been some grumbling about the political aspects of highway funding. There have been complaints that too much funding is now earmarked for urban areas rather than favoring rural areas as in the 15-year plan. There has been considerable sidestepping in the halls of the state capitol by legislators who don't want to become a target of angry voters who just want good highways and thought they were paying for them all along. And then there is the contention by some political observers that all of the recent wrangling over highways has been some sort of elaborate plot by Gov. Mel Carnahan to discredit former Gov. and now U.S. Sen. John Ashcroft -- a plot the governor strenuously denies -- as the two prepare for the U.S. Senate campaign in 2000.

Even if this is a bad football game, it does have its elements of intrigue after all.

What is needed is fairly simple: How about some leadership from those who have been elected to lead? How about some bold action from legislators who know they have highway needs in their districts whether they are Republicans or Democrats? How about some decisive -- and understandable -- action from MoDOT? How about a governor who gets MoDOT folks and legislators in the same room to hash out a sensible highway plan that includes adequate funding without raiding taxpayers for more money?

Leadership. That's what Missouri's highways need right now. That's what a good coach would do.