Prominent lawmakers are gearing up to push for an increase in the gas tax, the main source of revenue for the state's near-broke road budget. Supporters include two lawmakers who have led studies of the highway fund, who say they see no other way to keep road repairs on track.

It's clear that construction costs are surging while revenue is shrinking. New Hampshire's highway department spends $100,000 more every day than it takes in, Department of Transportation Commissioner George Campbell told lawmakers yesterday.

The department is on track for a billion-dollar shortfall on the state's 10-year highway plan, even on the recently pared-down program that focuses on maintaining existing infrastructure rather than building new roads.

The lion's share of the state's highway fund comes from the state gas tax, which has stood at 18 cents since 1992. Mounting construction costs and slumping gas consumption mean that the state can do less work per dollar while it is taking in fewer dollars than expected.

Rep. David Campbell, who has chaired this year's committee to study the highway fund, has said he will sponsor a gas-tax-increase bill. He said he hasn't sorted out all the details - including how big a raise he'll support - because it's not clear how much federal aid the state will receive. But, he said, he's come to believe that cutting alone won't right the road budget.

"At some point you can't cut the highway fund any more," said Campbell, who is not related to the transportation commissioner. "Are you going to cut winter salt? Are you going to cut snowplowing? Are you going to cut paving?"

Campbell, a Nashua Democrat, said he has backing from both sides of the political aisle.

"It's something that I'm hopeful the leadership of both parties, in both parties, can get behind," he said. "If they don't, I want them, whoever they are, to answer for the consequences if we don't do it. Show me where we're going to cut."

Rep. Candace Bouchard, a Concord Democrat who chairs the Public Works and Highways Committee, said she will support Campbell's bill.

"I'm pretty hopeful that people will understand the need to maintain our transportation system," Bouchard said. "I think we need to make our argument and show everyone that we've done our homework."

She said the state's current highway plan is already bare. "We're not building anything new," she said, except for beginning the project to expand Interstate 93. The rest, she said, is just "preserving and maintaining the system we have."

The Interstate 93 expansion has begun with bridge replacements at Exit 1 and new bus services at Exits 2 and 5, said DOT spokesman Bill Boynton. By the end of 2008, $40 million of work will have been completed of what's slated to be a $780 million project to widen the highway from Salem to Manchester.

Raising the gas tax is bound to be a difficult political move. One bill to do so died in a House committee last year on a 9-4 vote. Gov. John Lynch has in the past opposed any gas-tax increase; yesterday, spokesman Colin Manning declined to say whether the governor would veto such a plan.

"It's something he hasn't favored, and he's been in discussions with DOT about alternative strategies," Manning said.

Road construction costs have seen double-digit annual inflation for each of the last three years, said David Campbell. The costs of commodities, such as salt, fuel, steel and asphalt, have risen significantly, Boynton said, with road salt alone costing 25 percent more this year than last.

Meanwhile, gas tax revenue is down, because New Hampshire drivers have eased up on the gas this year. Overall, gas consumption is off nearly 4 percent, according to state statistics.

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