A federal stimulus package moving through Congress would give North Carolina about $900 million for new road, bridge and transit projects.

State officials say that’s just a few drops in a leaky bucket, reports Bruce Siceloff.

Dwindling receipts from gas and car sales taxes will cut state transportation revenues by $300 million a year for the next three years, state Transportation Secretary Gene Conti told a legislative oversight committee Thursday.

“That $900 million from the federal government sounds great,” Conti said, “but ... you’re kind of just breaking even, if you want to look at it that way.”

The nation’s ninth-largest state deserves a bigger share of the $43 billion federal transportation package, legislators said.

“This is just about two bridges to nowhere, and it doesn’t seem like it’s quite enough for this growing state,” said Sen. David Hoyle, a Gastonia Democrat.

“It sounds almost like they’re dividing the money by 50 for each state,” said Sen. Richard Stevens, a Cary Republican. “Would Rhode Island get just as much as we do? It’s just a drop in the bucket when we’ve got $8 billion in projects waiting to go now.”

Brad Wilson, chairman of a statewide committee that has recommended state and local tax hikes for transportation, said the federal package won’t make a big difference.

“Even with the money that we may receive from Washington,” Wilson told the committee, “we will still need new money.”

A special transportation committee gave final approval Wednesday to a report that proposes creating a tax on the number of miles a car is driven each year, as well as several other options for generating highway and transit money.

The vehicle miles tax would be calculated during the car's annual inspection and likely would supplement or replace the gas tax. Legislators on the 21st Century Transportation Committee cautioned that a new tax is unlikely to advance during the sort of budget crisis the state faces this year.

The special committee was formed to propose a menu of options for transportation funding, because the state's primary sources of money, the gas tax and a tax on car sales, are flat or declining in revenue because of factors such as more fuel efficient and longer lasting vehicles.

The group also proposed toll booths on I-77 and I-95.

Committee member Chuck McGrady, however, said the committee skirted the question of overhauling how the Department of Transportation operates after years of complaints about turf battles, political patronage and dysfunctional divisions.

"We haven't gone far enough," said McGrady, a Henderson County Commissioner.

Asheville Mayor Terry Bellamy, another committee member, cast the lone 'no' vote on the final version of the recommendations, saying the vehicle miles tax unfairly penalized rural residents with long commutes and no public transportation.

Committee chair Brad Wilson, chief operating officer of Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, said the road funding report could gather dust on a shelf unless individuals and communities support the recommendations. He acknowledged that raising new taxes is unpopular but said that a failing transportation system will make the state less attractive to new employers.

Criticism of the report after the jump.

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The two major gubernatorial candidates will appear at a summit next month.

Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue and Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory are both slated to speak at a Manufacturing Summit sponsored by the North Carolina Chamber on June 10 at the Grandover Resort to Greensboro, Jonathan Cox reports.

The summit will also feature panel discussions with Scott Ralls, president of the N.C. Community College System; Brad Wilson, Rep. Becky Carney and Sen. David Hoyle of the 21st Century Transportation Committee; and experts on economics, health and legal issues.

One breakout session has an interesting title: "Keeping North Carolina Union Free." 

Who's in the crowd at Barack Obama's Raleigh event?

Several big-name North Carolina legislators, judges and candidates are at the Kerr Scott Building to hear Obama speak.

Hampton Dellinger, a Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, is sitting with his father, former U.S. Solicitor General Walter Dellinger.

Other notables include U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield, who has campaigned for Obama, Reps. Dan Blue and Ty Harrell, former state Auditor Ralph Campbell, Wake County Commissioner Harold Webb, former N.C. Supreme Court Justice Willis Whichard, state appeals court judge Jim Wynn and former UNC Board of Governors Chairman Brad Wilson.

Legislators and voters might be asked to approve a $2 billion road bond on the November ballot.

Brad Wilson of Raleigh, who heads a statewide transportation study group that will make recommendations in May, said he hopes the fall ballot will include a major referendum.

"To really make an impact on the highway infrastructure, that bond [issue has] got to be of a certain magnitude -- or it's really not worth doing," he said Thursday.

Wilson heads the 24-member 21st Century Transportation Committee, a group of civic, business and political leaders. He also predicted the committee would ask legislators to stop the transfer of $172 millino from the Highway Trust Fund to the general fund. (N&O)

A high-profile panel on transportation was scheduled to meet last night at the home of a member.

The dinner, featuring a catered buffet and a flamenco band, was to be held on private Figure Eight Island near Wilmington. 

It was not open to the public because of an exception in the Open Meetings Law that allows government bodies to have a "social meeting" where no business is discussed.

"We're not having a meeting. We're having dinner," said Brad Wilson, chair of the 21st Century Transportation Committee. "It's a social event."

But First Amendment lawyer Hugh Stevens said the loophole means the public has only the word of the officials to rely on.

"It invites people to skirt the law, even though they'll be well-meaning and well-intentioned," he said. (Char-O)

A new committee created by state legislative leaders and Gov. Mike Easley state legislature's to examine the state's transportation needs has its first meeting 1 p.m. Wednesday.

The 21st Century Transportation Committee will meet in Room 643 of the Legislative Office Building. No agenda was included with a news release announcing the meeting.

The committee was formed after state lawmakers and others complained that the legislature did little to tackle growing transportation needs this year.

The committee includes many political and business leaders, including lawmakers and two Board of Transportation members. The committee is led by Brad Wilson, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina's chief operating officer and a former chairman of the UNC Board of Governors.