Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

State lawmakers who are dug in against the idea of voter-approved transportation taxes have bought the line that Texas already brings in enough money to beat back traffic congestion.

They parrot the argument that the state merely needs to quit siphoning off gas taxes for nonroad uses. But neither politics nor arithmetic makes it a rational position, and they should know it.

Recent analyses of Texas' transportation picture warn of a crisis point that will choke off state money for new projects in three years. (Dallas-Fort Worth drivers who see dirt flying will pay for many of these highway lanes with tolls.)

Responding to the squeeze, the state's top three leaders signed a pact last year vowing to end all nonhighway "diversions" legally possible from the 20-cent gas tax. That returned money was supposed to cover TxDOT's cost of borrowing more cash in a struggle to prop up construction numbers.

But serious carry-through on the diversions deal, signed before the economy soured, has petered out. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst's Senate has fallen short, and new House Speaker Joe Straus hadn't signed the pledge anyway. Now only Gov. Rick Perry is pushing to end diversions, but that's the only thing he's pushing for. Nowhere does any top official offer realistic solutions to the collision with financial reality.

That doesn't include Senate transportation chairman John Carona, who has been unafraid to show Texans the price tag of keeping up our transportation system in the face of population explosion. Responsible officeholders understand the folly of the diversions claim. They point out that fuel taxes are dropping, TxDOT is piling up debt and federal aid is undependable.

Even recovering every diverted penny immediately – which won't happen – might not do enough to keep TxDOT's budget afloat. Longer-term, forecasters say current tax levels will generate only about a third of what Texas needs over 21 years to add and maintain state roads.

Carona has managed to carry a rational response to the problem through the Senate, a proposal to let North Texas and other traffic-congested urban areas vote on raising the gas tax and various transportation-related fees. It would have the strategic benefit of raising billions to complete this region's rail network to relieve pressure on roadways.

If there's another solution, we haven't seen it. We hope that the dawdling House leadership will quickly redo the math and political calculations and come to the same conclusion. That might motivate them to finish work on their own local-option proposal and put it out for serious negotiation before time evaporates next week.

They should face the fact that a collision is coming, and it's their responsibility to avert it.