Transportation boosters didn't get a penny of the new money they had hoped for in the House and Senate budget proposals, but they invited legislators to breakfast anyway.

N.C. Go, a lobbying arm for transit agencies, construction businesses and civic groups, made a final pitch for more money Wednesday in testimony before a House committee

Earlier that morning, over eggs and jelly biscuits, the co-leaders of the legislature's Joint Transportation Oversight Committee told the group there was no agreement on what the state needs for road and transit improvements -- and little appetite for new transportation taxes.

Sen. Clark Jenkins, a Tarboro Democrat, noted that Gov. Mike Easley rejected a prediction from his own Department of Transportation that the state would fall $65 billion short of its transportation needs in the next 25 years.

Rep. Nelson Cole, a Reidsville Democrat, said drivers can expect to see plenty of toll-financed projects in coming years.

"We've got to go to toll roads in a bigger way than we've ever anticipated," Cole said. "It's unfortunate, but we do."

Jenkins said it would take "strong bipartisan support" to come up with new money, such as a proposed increase in the highway use tax paid on new car sales. North Carolina's 3 percent tax is lower than the rates charged in neighboring states. A hike of 1 to 2 percent would generate $200 million to $400 million a year.

Any new money should be split between urban and rural needs, attacking clogged freeways and boosting both rural and urban transit, Jenkins said. Deserving candidates for new money, he said, include a new Interstate 85 Yadkin River bridge near Salisbury and the state's first modern toll road, the proposed 16-mile Triangle Expressway in Research Triangle Park and western Wake County.

The N.C. Turnpike Authority requested $18 million a year to cover an expected gap between toll collections and construction costs for the Triangle Expressway. House and Senate budget writers ignored the request, dimming chances that construction will start on schedule this winter.

"I think we've got a week to 10 days to talk about some serious new money and to decide how we would divide it up," Jenkins told Dome. "My feeling is it would be a real tragedy if we miss the chance to do it this year."

'Buggy whip' laws

Legislators would periodically review old laws under a bill approved this week by the state House.

The bill would create a new commission, overseen by 16 lawmakers, to look over older statutes to see if they are still effective and necessary.

Sen. Dan Clodfelter said the goal was to eliminate the kind of "buggy whip regulation" that has outlived its usefulness. He pointed to the elimination of the state boxing commission a few years ago as an example of the work it would do.

"This is not a financial audit of the programs," he said. "This is more focused on: Is this program still necessary?"

The Charlotte Democrat said North Carolina is one of only four states without an internal review. Legislators created a performance review commission in the early 1990s, but it was a one-time study.

The bill passed the Senate unanimously earlier this month, but some changes were made in the bill in the House.

School bonds bill

U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge, a Lillington Democrat, introduced a bill last week that would provide $25 billion in school construction bonds.

The bill would require the federal government to provide tax credits for the interest normally paid on a bond, freeing up local school tax dollars for other purposes.

The bill is co-sponsored by Rep. Charlie Rangel, a New York Democrat who is chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

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