Did it really have to take 99 days - at a taxpayer cost of $30,000 a day - to get where we wound up Monday?

First, Gov. Butch Otter brought the Legislature to a standstill, vetoing 10 bills and repeating his demand for road repair money. Then, late in the afternoon, the Senate approved a gas tax increase.

We agree with Otter and the Senate. Road repairs are underfunded - and have been for years. Idaho motorists and businesses need safe and functional highways and bridges, and that costs money.

We'd feel better about Monday's political theater if it had come weeks ago - and if it actually brought the 2009 Legislature closer to a final curtain. The Senate may not have crafted the "going-home bill," legislative jargon for the last big vote of the year. This could be the going-nowhere bill.

If the voting patterns hold, the Senate and the House are irreconcilably split on road repairs. While the Senate OK'd a six-cent gas tax increase, phased in over two years, the House on April 9 rejected a two-cent increase. The Senate's vote seems less about bargaining than it is about drawing a line in the sand.

As if to amplify the point, senators attached their gas tax increase to the one highway funding bill that managed to get through the gantlet of the House - a repeal of an ethanol gas tax credit that would generate $18 million and retire an ill-advised tax break. If the House says no to the Senate's gas tax increase, the ethanol tax break could sneak through and remain on the books.

Otter, meanwhile, seems equally stubborn. He was pointedly vague Monday about how much money he wanted for highway repairs - "I'm not going to tell you," he said during a news conference. He was, however, clear that he would keep the Legislature in session for as long as it takes for him to get his way.

That isn't encouraging. This morning, the Legislature convenes for its 100th day in session, a dubious achievement exceeded only once in state history. Impatient taxpayers are bankrolling a battle of wills.

Obscured by the theater, there is more at stake than political pride. A serious problem looms across the state's highway system. According to the current estimates, Idaho needs to find $240 million a year for road repairs. On Monday, the Senate found $54 million, which is what a six-cent gas tax increase would eventually bring in. Your elected officials aren't fighting over a solution, only a down payment.

This battle doesn't reflect well on anyone.

The House seems unwilling to listen to evidence - or the auditors legislators hired to research the repair backlog. The Senate dithered for more than 14 weeks before finally weighing in on the issue.

Otter, meanwhile, is risking his relationship with lawmakers and voters. By threatening to prolong Idaho's $3 million legislative session - "I'm prepared to stay as long as I have to," he said Monday - he compounds the political perils of advocating a tax increase during a recession. He risks coming across as a churlish politician who cannot stand to lose.

In debating for the gas tax increase Monday, Sen. John McGee, R-Caldwell, said the issue has been talked to death. "The debate's been had." That smacks of wishful thinking. The fight appears to be just beginning.

"Our View" is the editorial position of the Idaho Statesman. It is an unsigned opinion expressing the consensus of the Statesman's editorial board.