Nail on the Head from the Left

Rarely do, I find myself in so much agreement with Alan at Idablue, who is quite suspicious of some earmarks in the Idaho legislature:

Betsy Russell reports that House Speaker Lawerence Denney learned from talking to Idahoans that they are willing to pay for better roads through increased taxes “as long as we know it’s going to pavement.”

I agree with that, but I’m leery of it. The concept is that the additional taxes get earmarked for, or dedicated to, building roads and bridges. A similar concept applies to money from the state lottery going to the state school system. The problem is that nothing prevents lawmakers from reducing what they might otherwise allocate, and thus offset the earmarks. The first year or two would probably see the full amount going to the targeted problem. Over time I suspect the legislature will reduce the former general fund contributions, effectively eating into the earmarks.

Of course, the taxes we’re talking about are vehicle registration fees. If this is really necessary (and I think that’s a big IF) than we ought to have a “sunset provision” that says after five years, the higher fees sunset and then its up to the Governor to prove we still need them for the intended purpose. If that’s not done, then in a few years, you’ll hear, “Well, golly, here’s a surplus. The taxpayers have paid too much money. How do we make government bigger?”