Blowing Up Bridges...

...just for special interests. This goes way beyond bending over backwards for money at the Capitol, a favorite pastime of many legislators.

A bill that could force the replacement of hundreds of highway bridges has been rejected by two legislative committees, but it is being bullied through the state legislature by Senate Republican leaders set on rewarding the timber industry at the expense of taxpayers.

The bill, AB 678, allows logging and other forest industry-related trucks to carry heavier loads on state and county roads and could cost taxpayers $2.14 billion in infrastructure cost, according to a DOT study released earlier this year.

The DOT report coupled with strong opposition from state troopers, towns, counties and cities, turned the Senate Transportation and Natural Resources committee against the bill last month.

That upset Senate Republican leader Dale Schultz, who promised the logging industry he would get the bill passed for them. So, Schultz moved the bill to the Judiciary, Correction and Privacy Committee chaired by his friend Senate President Pro Tempore David Zien.

Because Zien is a cosponsor on the bill and because Republicans dominate the committee, as they do all committees in the legislature, Schultz believed it would pass with no problem. He was surprised when the majority on this committee agreed it was bad for taxpayers and indicated they too would oppose it.

So Schultz went shopping and found the Senate Job Creation, Economic Development and Consumer Affairs Committee -- where it passed 4-0 on Wednesday.

Who wins? Big payers in the timber and paper industries who get to move their product in heavier trucks.

Who loses? Taxpayers, who will be forced to subsidize operations of trucks that tear up their bridges while also increasing dangers on the highways.