This chart was included as part of a brilliant blog post by our friends at TransitLabs, which analyses the various issues surrounding the perennial shortfalls that dog the highway trust fund (aka Gas tax). Highly recommend reading the entire blog titled “Why the Trust Fund Keeps Running Out” and explore the beautiful visualizations that accompany the story.
Image courtesy: Transitlabs
House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee Chairman John Mica, R-Fla., will introduce the committee’s multi-year surface transportation reauthorization proposal tomorrow — Thursday, July 7, at 11 a.m. Eastern time. According to Chairman Mica, the bill will not only reauthorize and reform the nation’s federal highway, transit and highway safety programs, but will also make significant improvements to passenger and freight rail programs and maritime transportation policy. “This fiscally responsible, multi-modal initiative would streamline federal programs, cut red tape, better leverage our federal resources, make wise investments in our infrastructure and create needed jobs for Americans,” according to the Chairman. The rollout event is scheduled to last approximately 90 minutes. Live video of the event will also be available at www.transportation.house.gov by clicking the “Live Webcasts” link.
Streetsblog Capitol Hill reports that Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee, wants transportation reauthorization bill passed soon in order to avoid the loss of 600,000 jobs in the construction and transit industries. She issued a call to action this morning, pushing for a new bill before the current extension of SAFETEA-LU expires on September 30. Though she had initially pushed for a six-year bill, Boxer made it official that the EPW proposal is for a two-year bill that will only cover current funding levels plus inflation—about $109 billion over the two years.
At today’s press conference, Boxer focused mostly on the urgency of saving 500,000 construction sector jobs and 100,000 transit jobs, citing new Federal Highway Administration stats about the ramifications if Congress passes Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget, with its 30 percent cuts to transportation. Boxer’s aides pulled out charts detailing just how many jobs would be lost in each state (See Chart here), and Boxer pointed to the over 43,000 that her home state of California would shed. Click here to read the rest on Streetsblog Capitol Hill
Note: And I found this interesting nugget on infrastructure spending on the EPW Press Release. It shows we have a long way to go to match the Chinese: According to a report by the Department of the Treasury and the Council of Economic Advisors, the United States currently spends 2 percent of GDP on infrastructure, a 50 percent decline from 1960. Meanwhile, China is spending close to 9 percent of their GDP on infrastructure.
Update Courtesy: ITS America
As the House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee continues to work on finalizing its six-year surface transportation reauthorization bill in anticipation of an early July introduction, Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) has announced plans to introduce the Senate version of the bill during the week of July 11, hold hearings the week of July 18, and is expected to proceed with a Committee mark-up on July 27. The Senate bill, which is rumored to be a two-year bill instead of six, is expected to face a $12 billion funding shortfall which would require the Senate Finance Committee to come up with additional revenues before the legislation could be passed. Committee staff continues to craft the bill in a bipartisan fashion with their most recent work focusing on a freight section. ITS America is working closely with Senate staff to include provisions that would promote greater deployment of ITS.
On the House side, T&I Committee majority staff continues to work on their bill but have provided limited details as to what specific policies and programs will be included. Speculation continues about the time frame for moving a surface transportation bill through the House, with Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA/7) taking heat for not including the reauthorization bill in a June 10 memo to House Republicans outlining key pieces of legislation that will be debated on the House floor this summer. The American Road & Transportation Builders Association obtained the memo and has posted the document on its website here.
Meanwhile Congressman Richard Hanna (R-NY/24), Vice-Chair of the Highways and Transit Subcommittee, joined ITS America’s Congressional Roundtable members for breakfast to discuss ITS and the transportation reauthorization bill. As a businessman who spent nearly three decades in the construction industry before being elected to Congress, Rep. Hanna stressed the need for technology solutions that can help public agencies do ‘more with less’. The Congressman made note of Portland, Oregon as an example of a city that is investing in ITS to help create a more efficient, user-friendly transportation network, while acknowledging the pressure many agencies face to roll out more visible ‘bricks and mortar’ projects. He also said the “argument is building daily” for investing in transportation as a means to create jobs and bring down the nation’s high unemployment rate. Read more about the Congressional Roundtable in the AASHTO Journal.
Hey, now I know why folks fight so hard to win their elections in California.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – California lawmakers enjoy a perk that seems like a luxurious amenity in a state that has been slashing billions of dollars from its budget: taxpayer-provided cars.
The state purchases cars for lawmakers to drive around their districts and the capital under a decades-old program, spending more than $5 million for the latest suite of vehicles that includes a $55,000 Cadillac sedan and a $52,000 Lexus hybrid.
Lawmakers are enjoying the benefit at a time when the state is in a financial mess and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has called legislators into a special session next week to address a $6 billion deficit. Lawmakers already have cut programs such as adult dental care and health care programs for children from low-income families, and more cuts are likely on the way.
Taxpayers spent $3.5 million to buy the 99 vehicles lawmakers use when they visit their home districts.
The Assembly spent another $1.4 million to buy 49 Toyota Camry Hybrids for 51 lawmakers who live far from the state capital and use the vehicles when they are in Sacramento. The Senate spends an additional $81,000 a year to lease 25 vehicles for senators’ use in Sacramento.
Their rides range from a $9,900 2004 Toyota Prius to a $55,000 Cadillac STS. The state spent an average of $35,250 on all vehicles lawmakers use in their districts.
(Source: Streetsblog & Wall Street Journal)
The Obama administration is working on a plan to fill the shortfall in the nation’s highway trust fund by August without adding to the federal deficit, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told Congress yesterday.
The highway trust fund, which relies mostly on gas-tax revenue, will need up to $7 billion in additional money by the end of summer to ensure states continue receiving payments, LaHood told the transportation subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee. The fund also will need up to $10 billion in the 12 months after September to ensure its solvency, LaHood said.
“We believe very strongly that any trust fund fix must be paid for,” LaHood told members of the House Appropriations Committee’s transportation panel. “We also believe that any trust fund fix must be tied to reform of the current highway program to make it more performance-based and accountable, such as improving safety or improving the livability of our communities — two priorities for me.”
The administration’s quest to offset its trust fund fix, which will cost as much as $7 billion, could prove fruitless. Rep. John Olver (D-MA), chairman of the panel that greeted LaHood today, put it simply when asked if the necessary spending cuts could be found. “That’d be very tough,” he said, noting that his own annual transportation spending is unlikely to become law before the highway trust fund runs out of cash. Replenishing the trust fund with a cost offset, as LaHood suggests, requires a serious conversation about finding new long-term revenue sources for not just highways but all modes of transportation.
But he said the President Barack Obama administration has ruled out raising the gas tax to provide additional funding, saying an economic recession isn’t the time to make such a move. “We are not going to raise the gasoline tax. I’ll just say that emphatically,” LaHood said.
Click here to read the entire article.
