Florida funds hijacked

Florida sure could use an extra $291 million a year to fix its roads and bridges. Well, guess what? It could get that much - without increasing taxes, without cutting other government programs and without borrowing.

Florida is among the states that pay far more fuel taxes into the Federal Highway Trust Fund than it ever gets back. By joining forces with the two dozen other "donor states," though, Florida can begin getting its fair share.

The federal highway and transit program today constitutes a perverse system of trickle-up economics. While the trust fund shorted Florida $291 million last year, it showered New Yorkers with a $178 million bonus.

This reverse Robin Hoodism flows from flawed formulas that Congress uses to determine how big a slice of the trust fund pie each state gets.

Since 1956, Florida taxpayers have gotten back only an 86 percent share of the money they've poured into the highway trust fund. Meanwhile, New Yorkers have gotten back every penny, with a 13 percent bonus. In the past two years alone, the funding formula cost Florida a staggering $651 million in lost transportation money.

This year presents a golden opportunity to rectify the situation. The federal highway law is set to expire, and Congress must write a new one. It's the perfect time to demand justice.

And to do just that, we are working to organize lawmakers into the Donor State Working Group.

The most effective reform would be to cut out Washington regulators and bureaucracy altogether. Simply let each state keep the federal fuel tax of 18.3 cents per gallon paid by motorists within state borders, as well as the diesel fuel tax paid by truckers. In turn, states would be held fully responsible for their own transportation programs.

Unless donor states band together, combining their clout to force change, Florida motorists will continue to subsidize their wealthy friends to the northeast.