Bob Beers. Terry Care. Maggie Carlton. Barbara Cegavske. Bob Coffin. Warren Hardy. Joe Heck. Steven Horsford. John Lee. Dennis Nolan. Mike Schneider. Dina Titus. Valerie Wiener. Joyce Woodhouse.

Those are the 14 state senators from Clark County - and they may hold the key to whether we have to suffer for another two years sweating it out on I-15 or U.S. 95 or innumerable surface streets. For good measure, throw in Randolph Townsend, who is elected in Reno but maintains a residence in Southern Nevada and spends a fair amount of time here.

That's two-thirds plus one, plenty of votes to pass any tax or fee increases to improve roads in the South. If something doesn't pass this session, the culprits will be on this list - or across from where they work in the governor's office.

Jim Gibbons has all but taken himself out of the most important issue facing the South. The northern governor has involved his thoughtful "no new taxes" mantra and thus dismissed the hard work of mostly Southern Nevadans who populated a task force that arrived at modest tax and fee increases to provide a stable funding source for roads.

Gibbons wants to study the issue some more. Clark County can't afford such dithering.

And so, sources report, forces are at work to bring a bill out of the Assembly that would raise taxes and fees to help start the road-construction ball rolling. Make no mistake: This is not a done deal.

Lawmakers, even those who understand the problem, do not want to be pilloried as taxers and spenders - especially Democrats who arrived in the promised land of a hammerlock on the lower house. But there are some who have the conscience and or foresight to realize what will happen if they don't take any action.

Some know it is their responsibility as elected leaders to propose a solution since the governor has sidelined himself. Others know that to do nothing could jeopardize them politically come next year, when the traffic will be that much worse.

So my guess is that 28 votes “most or all of the Democrats and a responsible Republican or two - will pass a bill out of the Assembly to provide a stable funding source to start repairing and building roads. That will leave the problem in the hands of the Senate - and my guess is some of the Assembly folks won't pass the measure until they have assurances the Senate has a veto-proof majority behind the idea.

And then the governor will have to take a stand. He will have to veto a bill that two-thirds of each house has passed to keep his simplistic pledge - and that would be an empty gesture because his own Gibbons Tax Restraint Initiative now makes any tax increase ipso facto veto-proof. How's that for irony?

Or he could display leadership, say that the importance of building roads and the legislative groundswell have persuaded him that the bill must be signed, tax promise or no tax promise. That could happen.

But the only way it could is if you keep an eye on these people:

Bob Beers. Terry Care. Maggie Carlton. Barbara Cegavske. Bob Coffin. Warren Hardy. Joe Heck. Steven Horsford. John Lee. Dennis Nolan. Mike Schneider. Dina Titus. Valerie Wiener. Joyce Woodhouse.

The future of Southern Nevada's economy and, more significantly, your daily commute may be left in their hands.