For the "It's never enough" file:
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A state lawmaker is worried the money the state made from the leasing of the Indiana Toll Road could run out sooner than expected.
Republican Rep. Ed Soliday of Valparaiso tells the Times of Munster (http://bit.ly/op7rkh ) the state needs to find a way to cover more than $5 billion in transportation
needs. That number is growing by $800 million a year according to a Purdue University study.
[. . .]
In 2006, Gov. Mitch Daniels
Back when the toll road lease was being debated, our editorial position was that the worst thing about it was the 75-year length of the lease vs. the 10-year funding plans; that left 65 years for which we wouldn't have control of the toll road or any money from it. But in retrospect, probably the worst thing about it was the "We've just won the lottery!" attitude it projected. Hey, we've got a one-time infusion of almost $4 billion! Transportation problems solved! But sustaining and improving our infrastructure is an ongoing, incremental need best solved by an ongoing, incremental funding mechanism.
