Topeka ? Key legislators are working on a new state transportation program but see no hope for finding a way to pay for billions of dollars of road and bridge projects over the next decade.

The Legislature is likely to settle at most for a commitment in Kansas law to start a new program after the existing 10-year, $13 billion program ends June 30, once a financing source is identified.

The Senate Transportation Committee finished hearings Friday on a bill that would raise sales and motor fuels taxes and vehicle registration fees to help sustain $17.7 billion in spending over 10 years. But Chairman Dwayne Umbarger, a Thayer Republican, said he expects more study, not a vote this year.

‘A lot of things to sort out’

The House Transportation Committee endorsed a bill Thursday outlining a new transportation program. But Chairman Gary Hayzlett, a Lakin Republican, described it as a “shell” because it contains no way to finance it.

“There’s a lot of things to sort out,” Hayzlett said Friday. “This year, where are you going to go with a funding bill? What are you going to do? Are you going to raise taxes? Are you going to raise fees?”

Supporters of a new plan argue that communities still can identify plenty of projects that would make roads safer, replace aging bridges, ease traffic congestion or spur economic development. A transportation program also would provide money for airports, public transit and rail improvements.

They also argue that a multiyear program will provide an ongoing source of good-paying jobs.

In the Senate, some leaders initially had hoped the recently enacted federal stimulus package would provide what amounted to the first downpayment on a new program. Kansas expects to receive $378 million in transportation funds under the stimulus law.

Tax increase debated

But Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, a Topeka Democrat, said legislators are focused on dealing with the state’s budget problems. They and Gov. Kathleen Sebelius must close a projected $682 million deficit in the budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

Hensley noted that starting a new, 10-year transportation program would require legislators to consider tax increases and, “Nobody’s interested in that.”

Derrick Sontag, director of Americans for Prosperity’s state chapter, says there’s a broad understanding that tax increases will hurt an already troubled economy. And, he said, they would put Kansas at a competitive disadvantage with other states, particularly on motor fuels taxes.

“The conversation begins and ends with cost-benefit analysis,” he said. “I guess I’m a little confused how they’re going to fund this if everyone agrees that we’re not going to raise taxes on Kansans.”

The bill before the Senate Transportation Committee would increase the state’s sales tax by a quarter-percentage point on Jan. 1, 2010, to 5.55 percent.

It would phase in an increase of 6 cents a gallon on motor fuels over five years, making the gasoline tax 30 cents a gallon in 2014.

Vehicle registration fees also would rise during the same period.

The measure also would permit the Kansas Department of Transportation to issue an additional $1 billion in bonds.