ON THE HORIZON
FUNDING IMPASSE Both versions of the bill have done away
with earmarks for designated state and local projects — one way, in past authorizations, legislators might have been convinced to support the overall package, and also a popular symbol of Washington run amok as earmarks became synonymous with “boondoggle.” And both versions feature blueprints
for a streamlined highway planning and construction process. But the expected savings from improved
efficiency come nowhere near to making up for the growing deficit between fuel tax revenues and infrastructure maintenance and modernization costs — which is hardly news. Jack Schenendorf was vice chairman of
the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission, which recommended in early 2008 that the federal motor fuel tax be boosted 5 cents to 8 cents a year for five years and then indexed to inflation. The congressionally created commission
cautioned that “applying patches” was no longer acceptable, risking tens of thousands of highway casualties each year and costing millions of dollars in lost economic
THE SENATE DEFEATED AN AMENDMENT THATWOULD HAVE PERMITTED STATES TO
COMMERCIALIZE HIGHWAY REST AREAS. THE OOIDA VOICED QUALIFIED SUPPORT FOR THE SENATE PROPOSAL.
opportunities. “The crisis is now,” the report said. Schenendorf repeated the message on
Capitol Hill and around the nation. “We have a crisis coming. The forces
are in place,” he said, during a July 2008 presentation to legislators from 11 Midwestern states. “The question is, are we going to do something about it?” Of course, with the recession coming on,
no one gave the phased-in fuel tax increase the slightest chance. Indeed, Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, the study commission chairman, refused to sign off the recommendations, calling instead for wider
use of public private partnerships and tolling. With SAFETEA-LU’s expiration looming,
House Transportation Committee Chairman Jim Oberstar in June 2009 unveiled an ambitious six-year, $500 billion plan. But the Highway trust Fund needed a $15 billion cash infusion over 2008 and 2009, and Congress was busy debating President Obama’s health care and energy packages, so the House plan went nowhere. And so the delays began, first with an
18-month extension that put off debate until after the 2010 mid-term election. Round 10 is expected to get underway in earnest in June. RW
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