Gas & Tax

I've been mentioning to friends for a long time that the state is making a killing off high gas prices. Well for the first time I see the news media has picked up on this.
In today's SFGate is this....

Sales tax receipts from the gas pumps in the fourth quarter of last year grew by nearly $100 million from the same period the year before , according to the latest figures available. And that was when California's average price for a gallon of gas at the pump, which includes state and local sales tax along with fixed state and federal excise taxes, was at $2.56.

Since 2002, sales tax revenues on gas have been growing annually by $300 million to $400 million to reach $2.86 billion in 2005, according to the California Board of Equalization. And with fuel prices at the pump already well above $3, the gas tax boom will likely continue for state and local governments.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?
file=/c/a/2006/05/11/MNGR8IPK9C1.DTL

Maybe instead of trying to float $100 billion bonds the state could try reducing unneeded spending and using the windfall to get the state back in shape.