Hell, 77 comments and counting on our last post on the commuter tax, and along comes more news to fuel the debate.

Today the D.C. Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, one of the primary litigants on the commuter tax issue, announced it would appeal a recent decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia that upheld the longstanding ban on the imposition of the tax to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Similarly, the organization has thrown its support behind legislation introduced in April by D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton that would provide an annual federal payment to the District to help remedy the costly structural imbalance wrought upon city finances by its status as the seat of the federal government and its inability to tax nonresidents. The legislation, known as the “D.C. Fair Federal Compensation Act of 2005,” envisions a $800 million payout for 2006, with that amount to increase annually alongside inflation. The legislation is currently being supported by the seven members of Congress who represent districts in Maryland and Virginia near the District, notably Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) and Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.).

Supporters of the legislation — which, if passed, would put to rest discussions over the commuter tax — were emboldened by language used by the federal appeals court in their recent decision, which noted, “the enhanced burden of financing the District’s operation should fall on the nation at large, rather than on the residents of the neighboring states.” The D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute and Brookings Institution recently endorsed the idea of a federal payout, arguing that it would allow the District to address many of its most pressing fiscal challenges.

So, dear residents of the greater 50 states, how about it? Care to pony up those $800 million?