"For too long, Indiana has been a donor state and sent more gas-tax dollars to Washington than it has received back," Sen. Dan Coats, R-Indiana and a sponsor of the bill (S 1446), said in a statement. "This isn't fair to Hoosier taxpayers, which is why I support the State Highway Flexibility Act. Hoosiers know our state's transportation needs better than bureaucrats in Washington, and Indiana should be able to control its own resources."

Other sponsors are Sens. Richard Burr, R-North Carolina; Saxby Chambliss, R-Georgia; Tom Coburn, R-Oklahoma; John Cornyn, R-Texas; Jim DeMint, R-South Carolina; Orrin Hatch, R-Utah; Johnny Isakson, R-Georgia; Jon Kyl, R-Arizona; Mike Lee, R-Utah; John McCain, R-Arizona; Rand Paul, R-Kentucky; Rob Portman, R-Ohio; and David Vitter, R-Louisiana. A similar measure (HR 1585) was introduced in April in the House of Representatives; that bill has 24 sponsors.

"Washington's addiction to spending has bankrupted the Highway Trust Fund," Coburn, the Senate bill's chief sponsor, said in a statement. "For years, lower-priority projects like earmarks have crowded out important priorities in our states such as repairing crumbling roads and bridges. Instead of burdening states and micromanaging local transportation decisions from Washington, states like Oklahoma should be free to choose how their transportation dollars are spent."

Coburn said Oklahoma Transportation Secretary Gary Ridley would do a better job deciding how Oklahoma's transportation dollars are spent than "bureaucrats and politicians in Washington."

McCain said he has long advocated that states should retain the right to keep the revenue from gas taxes paid by drivers in their own state.

"This bill would allow for this to happen and prevent Arizonans from returning their hard-earned money to Washington," McCain said in a statement. "Arizonans have always received 95 cents or less for every dollar they pay federal gas taxes. This continues to be unacceptable, and for that reason I am a proud supported of the State Transportation Flexibility Act."

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, introduced similar legislation earlier this year (S 252, the Highway Fairness and Reform Act). More information on Hutchison's bill is available at 1.usa.gov/Hutchison11.