Hoosier leaders not impressed by Illinois road funding lockbox [View all]

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana appears unlikely to copy Illinois’ pending plan to dedicate all tax and fee revenue collected in connection with transportation to spending on roads, mass transit and related infrastructure projects.

Illinois voters will decide in November whether to ratify or reject a state constitutional amendment, approved earlier this year by the Democratic-controlled General Assembly, that prohibits transportation taxes from being used for anything other than transportation investments.

Supporters of the Illinois Transportation Funds Amendment claim it will put a lockbox on transportation revenues of which they claim $6.8 billion has been diverted since 2003 for other state spending.

On Thursday, a Hoosier panel studying Indiana’s long-term road funding needs was decidedly not impressed when representatives from the Indiana Association of Counties and the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns suggested the state adopt Illinois’ lockbox plan — though not necessarily through a constitutional amendment.

Read more: http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/hoosier-leaders-not-impressed-by-illinois-road-funding-lockbox/article_9139bbfb-a381-554d-b02d-be67508c465f.html