Gov. Bob Riley last month revealed his budget proposal, which includes shifting millions in fuel taxes from highway projects to fund state troopers.

The Republican governor’s plan would move about $30 million in fuel tax revenue from a state fund for highway and bridge work to the Alabama Department of Public Safety, which includes state troopers, The Birmingham News reported. The transfer would let Riley cut general fund spending for troopers and shift the money to Medicaid and other areas.

Senate President Pro Tem Lowell Barron, D-Fyffe, told The Decatur Daily that the Legislature’s Joint Transportation Committee has taken a stand against Riley’s proposal to divert revenue. Drivers, he said, won’t like it either.

“That’s not going to fly. I don’t think anyone who rides the roads of this state feels they are over-maintained,” Barron said.

Joe McInnes, department director of the Alabama Transportation Department, told The Auburn Plainsman the agency could deal with the loss of funding to keep the roads safe.

“Enforcement is key to the safety of the traveling (public),” McInnes said. “This money is going to keep them where they are.”

State Finance Director Drayton Nabers said the Riley administration would use the money to hire more state troopers, step up enforcement of drunken-driving laws and make sure speeding laws are enforced around highway construction sites.