State House Republicans showed Monday how transportation funding can be done the "no new taxes" way, by shifting existing tax receipts to highway and transit purposes as the heart of a $7 billion, 10-year plan.

That is, they showed some of how it could be done. The rest of the story is due Tuesday, when the House GOP majority presents the outline of their four-year general fund budget. That budget will be minus $228 million in fiscal 2015, $300 million in 2016-17 and $630 million in 2018-19 for transportation's sake -- sums that otherwise would be available for education, public safety, health care and the rest of state services.

DFLers were quick to label that approach to transportation funding "shifts and gimmicks." They're right about shifts. But the GOP proposal ranks as a serious plan -- much moreso than the meager $750 million version the new House majority touted in January. Though smaller than DFL Gov. Mark Dayton's 10-year bid of more than $11 billion, Monday's package makes negotiation toward compromise seem at least plausible.

But it complicates the Legislature's main mission in the next two months -- setting a 2016-17 general fund budget. House Republicans have injected a tough new competitor for general fund dollars into a mix that already was churning with appeals for early childhood education, a public college tuition freeze, raises for long-term care workers, increased income support for the poor and more aid to local governments.

Avoiding a gas tax increase is more than "no new taxes" dogma for the GOP. It's also a reflection of sentiment in exurban and Greater Minnesota, as measured by the latest Star Tribune Minnesota Poll about Minnesotans' division over raising the highway-dedicated gas tax. The poll found 3 out of 5 Minnesotans outside Hennepin and Ramsey counties opposed to higher gas taxes, while 3 out of 5 in the two urban core counties are willing to see gas taxes rise. It's notable that only one House Republican represents any territory inside the Interstate 494-694 beltway.

It's also notable that even in auto-dependent Greater Minnesota, upwards of 40 percent of Minnesotans are willing -- even eager -- to pay more. Perhaps it's because Minnesotans know the gas tax can only be used to improve highways. No such restriction applies to the taxes House Republicans want to employ for road rebuilding. That's a serious weakness in a serious plan.