CHARLESTON, W.Va. - State lawmakers may ask voters to approve a $1 billion road bond sale even if Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin doesn't support the idea.
State Transportation Secretary Paul Mattox brought up the idea during a Transportation Day public hearing Jan. 12.
With long-term federal funding in limbo, Mattox told lawmakers they could consider an amendment to the state Constitution authorizing the sale of bonds for road construction. Mattox said several other states are considering similar measures.
A $1 billion bond issue could allow the state to begin construction on 17 shelved infrastructure projects as early as this fall, he said.
The governor's office announced later that day that Tomblin would not offer any road bond proposals this year.
Nevertheless, lawmakers are kicking the idea around.
"Numerous Senate members have approached me expressing an interest in the legislation with hopes of having the issue on the ballot in the spring," said Sen. Bob Beach, D-Monongalia.
The chairman of the Senate Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Beach said many of his colleagues are open to the idea. He said if they can get it on the ballot and passed in May, construction on the projects could begin by late fall.
But while lawmakers are discussing the plan privately, he said getting it through the Legislature this session could be a long shot.
"I don't foresee the legislation coming before the members this session, unless voters begin appealing to legislators to address the issue of jobs and road construction this year," Beach said.
Resolutions to put such an amendment on the ballot would require a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate, and that makes it difficult to pass.
"While constitutional amendments are often seen as a voter-determined outcome, nonetheless many legislators perceive bond issues as difficult to sell back home in their respective districts," Beach said.
But Senate Minority Leader Mike Hall, R-Putnam, said the idea might be an easier sell than some think.
He said the Legislature is already budgeting $3 million to compensate residents for damage to vehicles caused by state roads. He estimated that is about a tenth of the total damage motorists experience.
He likened the idea to a school bond, for which voters can see the benefits in their neighborhoods.
"We can do this; it'll make a big difference to the state and we should do it," Hall said. "The Senate's going to propose it even if the governor doesn't."
Hall was a key player last year in the debate over whether the final section of U.S. 35 in Putnam and Mason Counties should be constructed and financed with tolls. That plan died during the last legislative session following public opposition.
That U.S. 35 project minus tolls is included in the $1 billion list Mattox referred to during the hearing.