Easley, legislative leaders discuss possible transportation committee

House Republican leaders call for bond package on ballot

RALEIGH (AP) - Gov. Mike Easley met with House and Senate leaders yesterday to discuss how to handle the state’s long-term transportation needs, first by likely creating a commission to get a handle on the size of a budget shortfall.

Senate leader Marc Basnight and House Speaker Joe Hackney talked with Easley at the Executive Mansion for more than an hour without concluding how the panel may look, according to people who work for the three Democratic leaders.

Easley has been skeptical about the $65 billion figure that state transportation officials have estimated as the difference between the transportation expenses over the next 20 years and the money budgeted to pay for them.