Dear editor,
Since T-WORKS, the state’s current 10-year transportation program, was passed in 2010, over $700 million has been diverted from the Kansas Department of Transportation to other state agencies due to budget problems caused by tax cuts.
Before lawmakers raid the “Bank of KDOT” to fill yet another budget hole, they should consider the estimated 175,000 jobs created over the life of the program, the $10 billion impact to the Kansas economy and the modern improvements to Kansas communities.
These projects are not only worthy of the investment promised to Kansans but they are crucial to attracting economic development in our rural communities and, most importantly, making Kansas roads safer.
Urge your senator and representative to keep the dedicated revenue source of four-tenths of a cent sales tax for transportation going to KDOT projects, as it was intended, and not for funding other state agencies.
Joan Perez,
Humboldt
Letter to the editor — December 17, 2014
