Reform bill can help separate roads, politics

GIVE CREDIT to Bob Riley and the Alabama House for agreeing that governors shouldn't use asphalt to patch together political deals.

Last week, the House overwhelmingly passed a Riley-backed reform bill that would put a needed arms-length distance between the governor's office and the state Department of Transportation. The bill would create a five-member commission to oversee the highway agency, and would give the panel the authority to appoint a transportation director.

The proposed change should increase the independence and professionalism of the transportation department. Currently, the administrator who runs the department works at the governor's pleasure. This gives governors excessive influence over the agency -- influence they can use to wheel and deal with asphalt and concrete.

Gov. Riley doesn't want to play political games with highway funding; he favors professional oversight of the state's transportation network. However, previous governors have used their power over the transportation department to trade favors with legislators.

It's no wonder that, in years past, residents of south Alabama and other regions in the state have complained about inequities in highway funding. The state can't supply enough asphalt to pave pork-barrel projects and all the projects that meet pressing needs.

With governors in charge at the transportation department, priorities tend to fluctuate with election results. It's nearly impossible for transportation managers to develop long-range plans when those plans depend on the four-year gubernatorial election cycle.

Other states have wrestled with political issues in transportation funding and made organizational changes that diminish the role of politics.

In 2003, when Gov. Riley first proposed putting the transportation department under an appointed commission, lawmakers took a look at several Southern states that have transportation boards or commissions.

The Arkansas model seemed to provide the most effective separation between politics and professional transportation system management. Arkansas has a five-member commission whose members are appointed by the governor to 10-year terms. The terms are staggered to ensure the commission isn't dominated by one governor's appointees.

Rep. Cam Ward, R-Alabaster, the sponsor of the bill to establish an Alabama transportation panel, incorporated the best features of the Arkansas model in his proposal. Under the provisions of his bill, highway commissioners would be appointed by the governor and serve staggered six-year terms.

If commissioners are making the decisions on highway construction, the transportation department should be able to develop reliable long-term plans. Such decisions will never be completely free of political considerations, but Rep. Ward's bill would give the professional administrators more room to do their jobs.

Gov. Riley called the plan "a reform that's been needed for a long time." The House emphatically agreed. Now it's up to the Senate to do its part to improve Alabama's highways.