By LANCASTER NEW ERA

Gov. Ed Rendell seemingly is relentless when it comes to adding to the financial burden of Pennsylvania taxpayers.

Now the governor wants to raise the gasoline tax by 3.25 cents per gallon, which he says would generate $200 million toward the $472 million needed to fund road improvements, bridge replacements and various transit projects.

Rendell would raise another $265 million by increasing fees for various licensing and registration documents &tstr; driver's license, car registration, inspection sticker, driver-history report.

The remaining $7 million of the $472 million could be raised by cracking down on uninsured drivers. (One way to do this, Rendell says, would be to install surveillance cameras at toll plazas and highway ramps, snap pictures of licenses plates, and compare license plate numbers with insurance records).

Rendell offered his so-called "Plan B" after lawmakers balked at his idea for higher taxes on oil-company profits.

The state finds itself in a transportation-funding predicament after a previous proposal that Rendell supported &tstr; tolling Interstate 80 &tstr; was rejected by the federal government.

Rendell is mindful that this is an election year, but said the money is desperately needed to fix deteriorating roads and bridges.

"We've got to act. This is a time for a little bit of political courage. I think the voters would understand," said the term-limited Rendell.

Senate Republicans, as they have shown in the past, are reluctant to raise gas taxes &tstr; or any taxes. They think the governor and Legislature should do more to control spending.

As to the gas tax, specifically, Republicans are concerned the governor's plan, which would tie price increases at the pump to those of other states, would conflict with state and federal laws.

"It sounds terrific from a populist point of view, but there would be problems with violations of interstate commerce laws and the state's uniformity clause, which says taxes shall be equally applied," said Erik Arneson, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi.

Rendell is urging lawmakers to cut short their summer vacations in order to begin work on transportation-funding solutions on Aug. 23, two weeks ahead of schedule.

Meanwhile, the Senate Transportation Committee is carrying out a series of five public hearings around the state, starting today. A House transportation panel held similar meetings last month.

Rendell's call for immediate action from lawmakers appears to be falling on deaf ears.

Part of the reason is political &tstr; it is, after all, an election year. All state House members and half the Senate are up for re-election and unlikely to vote for a higher tax or fees.

Part of the reason has to do with Rendell, himself. Rendell's propensity for raising taxes apparently is wearing thin on lawmakers. They'd rather hold off until the next governor arrives on the scene.

Who knows? Maybe the next governor will not be so quick to raise taxes to bring budget deficits under control when there is much more to be done to cut wasteful state spending.

We'd bet Pennsylvania voters would be willing to wait and see.