Road warriors gird for next battle

• By WILL SENTELL
• Advocate Capitol News Bureau
• Published: Aug 12, 2007 - Page: 9A

• Print
• Email
• Save
• Reprints
• Twitter
• Share

• Del.icio.us
• Digg
• Facebook
• Reddit
• 

The push to increase state aid for roads and bridges by at least $500 million annually next focuses on this year’s race for governor and the Legislature,  highway advocates say.

The aim? Convince enough state lawmakers and Louisiana’s next governor that road improvements need a huge investment in 2008.

“We will hit the campaign trail,” said Derrell Cohoon, a consultant with the Louisiana Association of General Contractors.

Cohoon was one of the key backers of a bill earlier this year to boost state aid for highways by $456 million per year.

Rob Guidry, president and chief executive officer of the Greater Lafayette Chamber of Commerce, said the campaign  for more money in the 2007 session provided lessons for the future.

“We are going to work in the next few months to strengthen the coalition, expand it, getting to know the duly elected lawmakers and developing a solid plan and rationale for going forward,” he said. “And we are confident.”

Guidry’s chamber and about a dozen others, including the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, got behind the effort at the Legislature. Cohoon helped organize a group called Driving Louisiana Forward, which included highway contractors and others.

Late in the 2007 session, legislation to boost state aid by $456 million per year breezed through the House. Most of the money would have come from taking dollars that now pay for a wide range of state services and putting them solely into highways.

Gov. Kathleen Blanco’s office opposed the measure, warning it would create a giant hole in Louisiana’s $30 billion operating budget. The Senate Finance Committee killed the proposal.

Cohoon said the $456 million aid package remains a good idea, especially when weighed against imposing tolls or raising taxes or fees.

“We think we have a good product,” Cohoon said.

Jennifer Marusak — communications director for the group Driving Louisiana Forward,  mainly highway contractors — said she wants the organization to press legislative contenders and others for their views on highway needs.

“And if you don’t like my answer, what is your answer?” Marusak said of how pre-election chats should go with legislative contenders.