DALLAS — State legislatures have authorized more than $8 billion of road bonds and raised more fees and gasoline taxes in 2015 as local governments pick up the pace of transportation funding while Congress remains stuck in a series of short-term extensions.
More than 160 transportation funding proposals have been considered by lawmakers in the 50 states this year, with 27 passages, 89 failures, and 36 bills still pending, according to a new report from the Transportation Investment Advocacy Center.
States are taking the initiative for increasing their investments in transportation infrastructure because federal funding is limping along on its 34th short-term extension in the past 10 years, making it impossible for local officials to plan ahead, said Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., in Knoxville on Wednesday.
The temporary fixes are necessary because Congress lacks the political will to raise the federal gasoline tax or otherwise adequately fund transportation, Corker said. He sponsored a bill in 2014 that would have increased the federal gasoline tax by 12 cents from the current 18.4 cents per gallon.
"Politicians want to be popular with folks back home, and so they want to spend money on roads an infrastructure, because they know that it's important," Corker said. "They just don't want to pay for it."
Congress has transferred more than $70 billion of general revenues to the Highway Trust Fund since 2008 to avoid raising the gasoline tax, he said.
"Borrowing money like we've been doing with these short-term gimmicky fixes is totally inappropriate," Corker said. "It's irresponsible and cowardly."
A 16-year, $16 billion transportation program signed into law in mid-July by Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee will be funded with a gasoline tax increase of 11.9 cents per gallon and the proceeds from up to $5.3 billion of state general obligation bonds. The financial plan adopted by the Legislature calls for $4.8 billion of GO bonds and $6.2 billion from the higher gasoline tax.
In Connecticut, lawmakers authorized $2.8 billion of state bonds to fund the first five years of Gov. Dannel Malloy's 30-year transportation proposal. The state expects to issue $275 million of the bonds in fiscal 2016.
Massachusetts Gov. Charles Baker in April signed a measure authorized $200 million of state bonds for local road projects, and Mississippi lawmakers approved a $200 million state transportation bond program that dedicates $18 million to a bridge at Vicksburg.
Voters across the country have approved $259 million of state transportation ballot measures in 2015, said Carolyn Kramer, manager of the legislation-tracking center operated by the American Road and Transportation Builders Association.
Texans will decide in November on a constitutional amendment that could generate up to an additional $3 billion per year for transportation projects. The amendment would dedicate $2.5 billion per year of sales tax revenues to the state transportation fund, beginning in 2018 and ending in 2033.
The Texas proposal would also move 35% of motor vehicle sales tax revenues in excess of $5 billion per year to the transportation fund for 10 years beginning in 2020. It is expected to provide an additional $435 million for road and bridge projects in the first year.
Six states, including Washington, have raised their gasoline taxes since January, Kramer said.
A bill pending in California's current special legislative session on transportation would boost the state gasoline tax by 12 cents and increase vehicle registration fees to generate an additional $4 billion for highways and transit.
