In one of my favorite (and their most blatant) smoke-and-mirror maneuvers in legislation being pushed during the final days of the 2007 session, Senate Bill 540 proposes “technical” corrections to motor vehicle law.
Section 29 revises the accounting , i.e. transparency, of the $172 million transfer of money out of the Highway Trust Fund. It makes no change in the amount, just the way the transfer takes place. It directs the money to go straight to the general fund rather than showing it as a transfer out of the Highway Trust Fund. Apparently, showing that the money is really diverted from transportation needs is just too “confusing and controversial”.
Luckily, Rep. Nelson Dollar (R-Wake) caught it, and during debate on the bill on the House floor, he proposed an amendment to take that provision out, which would leave the accurate accounting of the transfer of funds in place.
Amendment passed 112 – 1.
