On Friday, skeptical Idaho legislators may well have been handed 203 million reasons to kick the state's transportation problem down the road.

The economic stimulus bill passed by Congress will provide about $203 million for Idaho highway projects — and perhaps will provide lawmakers with a convenient argument against increased gas tax and vehicle registration fees.

Sure, this would be short-sighted. The $203 million is a lot of money, of course, but it's a one-shot offer. It cannot and will not address a repair and construction backlog pegged at some $240 million. An audit of the Idaho Transportation Department — ordered by legislators last year — restated the ongoing need and the inadequacy of the current funding formula.

Sure, this also would be richly ironic. For five weeks, some lawmakers have tried to remain almost comically detached from the federal economic stimulus process — or gruffly reluctant about accepting money from the Obama administration. Now, with economic stimulus all but a done deal, Idaho lawmakers will happily take the money. And some will be more than happy to put it to work to help them postpone the tough decisions.

Call it the any-port-in-a-storm approach to crisis avoidance.

Of course, the state has been avoiding dealing with the transportation crisis for years. That's why Idaho has a $240-million-a-year problem that needs to be addressed now, not later. With or without the stimulus dollars, the state needs to come up with a long-term transportation funding plan, before the price tag can grow even larger.

But hey, lawmakers have delayed so long, what's one more year? Some lawmakers have openly questioned whether the Idaho Transportation Department put adequate money into blacktop; it wouldn't surprise me if they turn over the stimulus money to ITD to see what the agency can do with it.

Here's the basic tension between Gov. Butch Otter and legislators. Otter wants a long-term funding plan — his transportation initiative would eventually raise $174 million a year after five years of phase-ins. Some lawmakers are reluctant to approve a multiyear funding plan, especially in a down economy. House Transportation and Defense Committee Chairman JoAn Wood, R-Rigby, made that point repeatedly on Idaho Public Television's Idaho Reports Friday:

Remember when Otter turned down a $68 million transportation funding plan from the House in 2008, in perhaps his biggest blunder as governor? Otter dismissed the idea because he didn't want to go back to the Legislature, year after year, fighting for transportation dollars.

I'm not sure Otter has a choice. That's too bad. But it's crisis-to-crisis governing.