Published: March 11, 2007 10:47 pm         

Lawmakers await action on ’pike bill

CHARLESTON — Are future toll increases on the West Virginia Turnpike to be left in the hands of the Legislature?

Southern lawmakers took that giant stride in the final hours of the session Saturday night, overcoming the Manchin administration’s early-on success in watering down a Senate bill.

“We haven’t seen the full thing,” Gov. Joe Manchin told reporters when the session ended.

Manchin said he wants the independent consultant, Public Resources Advisory Group, to take a long look at the bill sent to his desk requiring the Legislature’s approval of any “toll revisions.”

“We want to make sure that we’re not defaulting on our bonds,” he said.

“That’s all. We’ll go from there.”

A bi-partisan effort, launched in the Senate, held sway before the midnight hour, but it took some wrangling between the two chambers and a conference committee to restore the original bill.

After Manchin’s appointed chairman on the Turnpike’s governing board, Joe Martin, convinced the House Finance Committee to remove the Legislature’s veto power, the Senate refused to retreat.

Majority Leader Truman Chafin, D-Mingo, and Minority Leader Don Caruth, R-Mercer, and Sen. Jesse Guills, R-Greenbrier, held their ground, disputing Martin’s fears that bond holders would immediately call in the bonds if the West Virginia Parkways Authority needed to take all toll hikes before lawmakers.

To Chafin, the scenario was no different than an individual making car payments — as long as installments are kept up, the car owner needn’t fear the Repo Man.

Chafin said his study of bond covenants led him to believe the Legislature’s bill in no way constituted a departure from the agreements.

“We need to make sure the money is used for the maintenance, repairs and replacements, and widening projects to keep the road safe,” Manchin said.

PRAG issued its long-awaited report, one that Manchin ordered after last winter’s protest over sudden toll increases, and in it, the consultant suggested identical increases of 40 percent would be needed in both 2008 and 2013, or millions in repair projects would have to be shelved.

Tolls climbed to $2 per barrier for cars and to $7 for five-axle trucks on New Year’s Day in 2006, triggering a successful lawsuit by trucking outfits to return them to old levels set back in 1981.

“I never did and I’ve always felt there’s no way that additional projects should be brought in under the guise of economic development, unless the Legislature has full disclosure on that,” Manchin said.

A recent study by the legislative auditor showed that the authority has invested millions of dollars without any return. That report also criticized the dedication of $2 million a year in concession proceeds to keep Tamarack afloat.

“But the day-to-day operations have to be continued, and we’ll see where we are with the bonds we owe money on,” the governor said.