Wednesday, February 08, 2006

$urplus to Trust Funds, School Buses, and Secondary Roads

If you're reading this but not looking at the video feed, turn it on. What's going on now is a debate over whether or not to repay the trust and reserve funds raided by the General Assembly over the last several years with current surplus dollars. The proposal puts $173 million back into trust funds that were raided during budget shortfall years. The total amount of dollars is uncertain, but should be at least $275 million and may reach $500 million. After the trust funds are replenished, $13 million will go to school bus purchases, and then what's left will be directed to our secondary roads in desperate need of repair. I think of the fatal accident earlier this year when a local businessman ran off the dilapidating bridge on Brown road. Could these funds prevent these types of accidents? I would think so.