USE HIGHWAY TRUST-FUND SURPLUS FOR ROADS

U.S. Sen. Christopher Bond aptly calls it a case of highway robbery. The federal highway trust fund has generated a surplus. So instead of diverting the dollars to bridge and highway projects already on the table, the federal government wants to spend the surplus on other programs.

Sound familiar?

President Clinton's fiscal 2000 budget abandons the funding guarantees that Congress included in the 1998 federal highway law. A provision in the law guarantees that federal gas-tax money will be spent on highway and bridge projects.

But Clinton wants gas-tax dollars to go elsewhere -- particularly to environmental programs ballyhooed by Al Gore.

It's no coincidence that federal highway dollars funnel into a "trust" fund. It means the dollars are to be saved for highway and bridge projects.

Diverting gas-tax dollars to other projects is flat wrong. Road and bridge needs still exist, and those dollars should be put toward much-needed improvements.

The surplus is a substantial amount. The highway trust fund has collected $1.5 billion more in revenue than had been projected. As it stands now, the money would be distributed to the states for road and bridge projects.

If Missouri is any indication, these bridge and road dollars could be put to good use. A number of transportation projects have gone unfunded due to state shortfalls, and other roads and bridges are begging for repair. Missouri stands to receive some $30 million if Congress can waylay Clinton's diversion of gas tax dollars.

In recent weeks, the Senate Budget Committee unanimously rejected Clinton's budget -- partly because of the gas-tax controversy. But you can pretty well bet the fight's not over. Clinton's effort to siphon highway funds could surface again as the budget debates begin in the full Senate.

Taxpayers and members of Congress should unite to keep gas tax revenues in the "trust" fund for road and bridge improvements. After all, it's a matter of trust.