Among the many various and sundry things Idaho’s Republican Legislature and Governor have been spending our money on is the absolutely craptastic “Garvee Bond” fiasco, where Idaho borrows money from the feds, sinking us further into the Abyss. Anyhoo, our lawmakers have taken to calling this monstrosity “Connecting Idaho,” and they sell it by claiming that it will fix roads everywhere. Everyone wants better roads! How can you argue with such a wonderful idea!?!
Well, this Idaho Statesman story details how our Republican leaders have blown away $450 million dollars on this thing, which is a $1 billion project (That number will certainly grow much larger!). Of the $450 million that has been appropriated by the Legislature, $150 million has been contracted or spent, according to the story. The rest has been appropriated, but it is sitting idle because the Idaho Transportation Department cannot keep up. Yet, they are asking for another $134 million this year. Here’s the real kicker though:
“ITD numbers show the percentage of Connecting Idaho money going into road-building, as opposed to planning, rising significantly during the next three years, hitting 88 percent in 2011. Cutting off funding now could cost the state millions more in the long-run, ITD officials say.”
That’s right: About 88% of that money goes to planning, not building or fixing roads.
I’ve been saying this a long time: We are not getting roads built with these hundreds of millions of dollars. What we are doing is paying private corporations to “plan” and “study” the roads. Those corporations, many of which are armed with lobbyists and employees who were once key staffers for Republican officials, are planning and studying our roads, but they aren’t building many of them.
The Garvee Bond fiasco was and is a gigantic construction industry welfare bill. In my view, it has gutted the Idaho Transportation Department, which is a huge agency that we created for the purpose of doing the planning and studying. It is now a shell of its former self, with basically no purpose but to serve as a middleman, giving the private companies the money that the Legislature appropriates. ITD, not these private construction corporations, should be doing much of the planning, and contractors should be doing the building. I also believe that ITD needs to have sole "project managers" to be clear points of contact and responsibility on all projects. Another major problem is the layers and layers of process and review that the government has created for public works construction projects. It is important to protect the environment, public safety, and select the best option, but in my view the process has become far too cumbersome and accounts for much of the huge costs and time delays.
This is just ridiculous, and it is another example of the completely out-of-control spending and feckless leadership that has been going on Idaho since the late 1990’s, post-Governor Batt. Shame on the Republican Legislature for allowing this to ever happen in the first place, and shame on them and the Governors Kempthorne and Otter for allowing this boondoggle to continue!
Well, this Idaho Statesman story details how our Republican leaders have blown away $450 million dollars on this thing, which is a $1 billion project (That number will certainly grow much larger!). Of the $450 million that has been appropriated by the Legislature, $150 million has been contracted or spent, according to the story. The rest has been appropriated, but it is sitting idle because the Idaho Transportation Department cannot keep up. Yet, they are asking for another $134 million this year. Here’s the real kicker though:
“ITD numbers show the percentage of Connecting Idaho money going into road-building, as opposed to planning, rising significantly during the next three years, hitting 88 percent in 2011. Cutting off funding now could cost the state millions more in the long-run, ITD officials say.”
That’s right: About 88% of that money goes to planning, not building or fixing roads.
I’ve been saying this a long time: We are not getting roads built with these hundreds of millions of dollars. What we are doing is paying private corporations to “plan” and “study” the roads. Those corporations, many of which are armed with lobbyists and employees who were once key staffers for Republican officials, are planning and studying our roads, but they aren’t building many of them.
The Garvee Bond fiasco was and is a gigantic construction industry welfare bill. In my view, it has gutted the Idaho Transportation Department, which is a huge agency that we created for the purpose of doing the planning and studying. It is now a shell of its former self, with basically no purpose but to serve as a middleman, giving the private companies the money that the Legislature appropriates. ITD, not these private construction corporations, should be doing much of the planning, and contractors should be doing the building. I also believe that ITD needs to have sole "project managers" to be clear points of contact and responsibility on all projects. Another major problem is the layers and layers of process and review that the government has created for public works construction projects. It is important to protect the environment, public safety, and select the best option, but in my view the process has become far too cumbersome and accounts for much of the huge costs and time delays.
This is just ridiculous, and it is another example of the completely out-of-control spending and feckless leadership that has been going on Idaho since the late 1990’s, post-Governor Batt. Shame on the Republican Legislature for allowing this to ever happen in the first place, and shame on them and the Governors Kempthorne and Otter for allowing this boondoggle to continue!
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