A roads-related bill has breathed new life into about a half-dozen road projects — including Lincoln’s south beltway — that were not at the top of the state’s priority list in the past.

A compromise amendment the Legislature approved Tuesday assures seven projects that received specific Congressional earmarked funding will be built.

The measure would use $15 million from the state’s cash reserve fund — $5 million a year for three years. The state must provide that money to receive about $75 million in federal funds.

But not every senator agreed the infusion from the cash reserve fund is a good idea. And it’s a clear break from tradition, where all road funding has come from fuel taxes or taxes and fees on vehicles.

The measure (LB846) also changes the way a portion of the state gas tax is computed, tying the tax to the wholesale price of fuel.

But it does not raise the fuel tax.

“We are not raising the gas tax,” Sen. Deb Fischer of Valentine said about the compromise that appears headed for passage and the governor’s approval before the session ends Thursday.

Through the bill, “the Legislature and administration have made a statement that our highways, our infrastructure are important in this state,” said Fischer, chairman of the Transportation and Telecommunications Committee.

 The changes in the fuel tax calculations and the cash fund earmarks would not begin for a year — in July 2009.

But this measure is not the final solution, Fischer and others said.

Fischer promised she will come back in future years with other proposals “because we are in a crisis.”

The Department of Roads faces rapidly rising costs for road construction materials at the same time the federal government will likely cut back on funding.

In response, the agency has said it will maintain the highway system but will not build many new roads beyond finishing the widening of the interstate between Lincoln and Omaha.

The bill does ensure construction of some projects that have not been a top priority with the state Department of Roads. Instead, the department has been using state dollars for other construction and maintenance needs. Those state dollars are also generally matched with 80 percent federal funds or higher.

Many supporters of the compromise also supported the federally earmarked projects.

The department’s priority has been finishing the six lanes of Interstate 80 from Lincoln to Omaha, said Sen. LeRoy Louden of Ellsworth, who supports using the state funding to match federal funds for the construction of the Heartland Expressway in western Nebraska.

“The Department of Roads’ priorities has not been where they should be,” Louden said, pointing out the department uses existing traffic counts and not the economic development potential of a road in setting priorities.

With the department’s new 10,000-vehicles-a-day-count as a trigger for four-lane construction, no four-lane expressways will be built “in the western two-thirds to three-fourths of the state,” he said.

The Congressional earmark occurs when a city or region convinces its Senate or House representative to get federal money for a certain project.

This bill and its $15 million in state funds is a one-time assignment of state money to match Congressional earmarking. It is not the beginning of a new trend, Fischer said.

“We would be sending a dangerous message if senators decided always to match federal earmarks no matter what,” she said.

Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers contended the $15 million earmarking of state funds was a way to get special roads built.

“This is not about policy or integrity,” he said. “It’s about getting a couple slices of the bacon.”

Opponents to Fischer’s plan don’t want to begin using the state’s cash reserve fund (which is state income and sales tax revenue) for highway needs because it is a break from the tradition of using only user fees (gas tax and motor vehicle-related fees) for roads.

“There are other needs we could have used the (cash) reserve for, but we kept our hands off them,” said Lincoln Sen. DiAnna Schimek.

Using the reserve puts roads in direct competition with other state needs, including public safety, substance abuse, mental health and developmentally disabled funding, said Omaha Sen. John Synowiecki. “I think it’s a slippery slope and bad public policy when we move away from user fees for roads,” he said.

The measure also creates a new funding mechanism — tying a portion of the state’s gas tax to the wholesale price of fuel. The tax — 5 percent of the wholesale price — would change twice a year and would rise and fall as fuel prices go up and down.

The Legislature would still have control over the total fuel tax through the budget process.

Under Nebraska’s system, the Legislature and governor set a road budget. Then the variable portion of the state fuel tax goes up or down to make sure the state collects just enough money to fund that budget.

Reach Nancy Hicks at 473-7250 or nhicks@journalstar.com.