Supporters of Amendment 7, a new sales tax to pay for roads and other transportation programs, will market it as a job-creating initiative that will make Missouri safer while putting only a light hand on the wallets of low-income residents.

In a conference call with reporters yesterday, Bill McKenna of Jefferson County and Rudy Farber of Newton County laid out the arguments voters will hear before the Aug. 5 election. McKenna and Farber are co-chairmen of Missourians for Safe Transportation and New Jobs, a group that has raised more than $1.3 million from highway contractors and other transportation interests to promote Amendment 7.

McKenna, a former state Senate president pro tem, and Farber, a Neosho banker, are both former members of the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission.

�This proposal will create thousands of good jobs and increase the safety of our citizens as they use our roads and bridges and public transportation each and every day,� McKenna said. �This proposal will not increase sales tax on necessities of life.�

Opponents of Amendment 7, with far less funding but with Gov. Jay Nixon as an ally, argue that it is a mistake to put new costs for roads on consumers without asking motorists, especially heavy trucks, to pay more as well.

�I believe there are some needs,� said Terry Ganey, a volunteer spokesman for Missourians for Better Transportation Solutions. �I am not disputing there may be needs, but what our group finds the greatest fault with is where they go to get the money.�

Amendment 7 would impose a three-quarter-cent sales tax for 10 years. It would, if passed, raise an estimated $534 million annually, with $480 million set aside for state programs and $54 million to be distributed to cities and counties.

If approved, the basic sales tax rate in Columbia would increase to 8.725 percent.

Reconstruction of and widening Interstate 70 from Wentzville to Independence is the biggest single project on a draft list issued by the Missouri Department of Transportation. Other area projects include runway improvements and a new terminal at Columbia Regional Airport, extending Stadium Boulevard to Route WW and adding two hours of service daily to the city bus system.

MoDOT officials are holding public meetings around the state seeking comments on the priority list. The Highways and Transportation Commission voted last week to extend the comment period until July 3 and will meet July 9 to vote on a final list.

�We have had, as of sometime late last week, at least 600 comments and thousands of hits to the �Moving Forward� webpage,� said Holly Dentner, department spokeswoman.

The commission holds its regular monthly meeting tomorrow and will hear reports on the �high impact� projects from district engineers, Dentner said.

The proposal includes a provision for elections every 10 years to extend the tax. The priority list will be an important check for voters to measure the success of the program, Farber said.

�If the commission does not do what it says it is going to do, then the chances are nil that this would be voted on again in a positive way,� he said.

Nixon opposes the tax because sales taxes fall more heavily on people with lower incomes because they spend a larger portion of their incomes. He also objects because lawmakers approved an income tax cut and sales tax exemptions that exceed the new revenue that would be generated by the sales tax.

A gas tax could fund a portion of the need and have the added benefit of encouraging conservation, Ganey said. An additional fuel tax would make little difference in widely fluctuating gas prices.

�What this does is it subsidizes gas guzzlers,� Ganey said. �The people who use the fuel won�t pay any more in taxes for it, and the people who don�t drive will pay the tax.�