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Ugh! A few points here:
Why is it that liberal democrats have never seen a problem that more money won't fix? First, New Hampshire has the same number of DOT employees to oversee 17,000 miles of state highways as Rhode island, which has only 1100 miles of state highways. Condition of NH highways: Good. Condition of RI highways: Deplorable.
Second, NH collects $143M in state gas taxes in order to maintain those 17,000 miles, or $8400 per mile. RI collects $117M in state gas taxes in order to maintain those 1100 miles, or $106,000 per mile. This is simply incredible!
Third, RI will now index it's gas tax to the rate of inflation. Hence, automatic increases without a vote. Massachusetts recently tried this and it was shot down by voters as an act of political cowardice. Ditto, NH. If you want to hike taxes in other states, you do it publically. In RI, you simply count on people not paying attention.
The condition of RI's roads is not, and never has been a function of the amount of taxpayer "investments". Rather, it is a function of the prudent use of those "investments". And the prudent use of public funds in RI remains a contradiction in terms.
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