LEGISLATORS RECALL 15-YEAR HIGHWAY PLAN PROMISES

Rep. David Schwab clearly remembers pressing state highway officials concerning whether they could complete the 15-year highway plan they offered in exchange for a 6-cent increase in the fuel tax.

"I directly asked the question, and they assured me the plan could be completed in 15 years and that they had no problems," Schwab said. "I still remember that."

Schwab, a Jackson Republican, is a member of the House Transportation Committee, and was one of the first legislators to hear details of the 15-year plan in 1992.

The projects for Southeast Missouri excited him. They included major upgrading of Highways 25, 34 and 72.

Schwab was so excited that he set aside his natural tendency to oppose tax increases and became one of the first House Republicans to endorse the 6-cent gas tax -- even without a vote of the people.

"I felt it was a user tax, and with the benefits it would bring for our area I totally felt it was justified," Schwab said.

It was that promise of projects in the 15-year plan that led Schwab and other legislators to agree to act quickly on phasing in the gas tax without voter approval.

Even Republican then-Gov. John Ashcroft, a staunch opponent of new taxes during his previous seven years in office, took the lead in urging lawmakers to pass the tax.

A legislative oversight committee audit of the gasoline tax recently said the 15-year plan was underfunded by more than $2 billion. Some scenarios nearly double that shortfall. And, even though the plan is on schedule, a highway department review also has found a shortfall.

Highway officials, however, say a combination of mistakes in calculating the program's cost three years ago and uncertainties about federal funding could jeopardize some of the plan's projects.

Lew Hancock, assistant division engineer for planning and development with the Missouri Highways and Transportation Department, said funds are being spent as efficiently as possible and staff will monitor progress annually.

Rep. Mary Kasten, R-Cape Girardeau, was also quick to endorse the tax hike in 1992, because of the way the plan would spark economic development in Southeast Missouri with better roads.

"I would be terribly disappointed if those promises are not going to be fulfilled," said Kasten.

Kasten said mistakes that failed to include 12 years of resurfacing costs in the plan, and projected maintenance cost increases at 4 percent instead of 6 percent were "very critical." However, she did not criticize highway officials for the mistake that totals around $2.2 billion.

But Rep. Larry Thomason, D-Kennett, has not been so kind.

Thomason, who will likely become chairman next month of the Joint Committee on Legislative Research, which had an audit done, said he was astounded that highway officials could make such a large mistake. He pointed out that in 1992, highway officials brought lawmakers a 15-year plan and promised it could be completed by simply increasing the gas tax by 6 cents.

"They tell us they will do something, and now we find out that we won't have the money for it," said Thomason. "They do this to us time and time again, and then just say, `We made a mistake.' I don't think they understand how poorly they are regarded in the General Assembly."

Thomason accused highway officials of "deliberately misleading the General Assembly."

If they were not trying to mislead lawmakers, Thomason said the magnitude of the mistakes show "they had some really inept people working for them."