Transportation budget must be kept separate

Ohioans should be alarmed by suggestions from both Republican and Democratic leaders in the General Assembly that any vote to raise the gas tax should be tied to income tax rates or deductions or loophole-closing or any other tax policies. That would be a recipe for mischief, both now and in the future. ...

For many decades, and for good reason, the transportation budget has been considered separate and apart from the main operating budget. In 1947, Ohioans approved a state constitutional amendment to guarantee that motor vehicle and license taxes would be reserved for roads, highways and bridges.

Prior to that, some tax receipts from the sale of liquid fuels supported the school foundation fund.

Ever since, lawmakers have honored the complete separation of the main operating budget and the transportation budget, including the tax rates and policies specific to each. Obhof’s suggestion that DeWine’s proposed gas-tax issue could be kicked into the operating budget and considered as part of a broader tax package could not be more imprudent. ...

Once lawmakers begin making tax trade-offs between budgets that have nothing to do with each other, political point-scoring trumps rational budgeting. That’s a Pandora’s box that should never be opened. ...

Read the full editorial from the Columbus Dispatch at bit. ly/2TzEAhe