H.3746 would mandate that the proceeds from overdraft fees charged by banks or trusts be remitted to the state treasurer and credited to the state highway fund. When discussing other fee or tax increases to fund transportation we have always pointed out that when it comes to roads, the state doesn’t have a revenue problem, it has a management problem.
However, this proposal is particularly ill thought out even when compared to other tax and fee increases. Other proposals to increase taxes or fees to raise funds for transportation all seek to increase taxes and fees that are least somewhat related to driving or motor vehicles. H.3746 doesn’t do this, nor does it impose a general tax increase for roads. Instead H.3746 singles out one industry (seemingly unconnected to roads), for a tax increase to pay for infrastructure expenses. We can think of little reason why the banking sector should be singled out for road funding fees.