with Tyler Kane, Transportation Investment Advocacy Center

Due to a constrained budget, the Hawaii Department of Transportation (HDOT) announced July 11 that many new highway “capacity” projects to add lanes or build roads would be delayed as they focus a majority of funding on road maintenance and safety.  A proposal to raise the gas tax and registration fees introduced during the 2016 legislative session failed to advance. Read More>>

Following a series of severe weather events this summer, roads in northern Wisconsin received $2.5 million in immediate reparative funding from the Federal Highway Administration. The sum will begin to offset damage from the storms, estimated at around $10 million for federal and state highways and $30 million for private property, and county, town and forest roads and bridges. Read More>>

Pennsylvania has increased transportation funding by $1 billion annually as a result of 2013 legislation. This year, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) awarded approximately $2.4 billion in contracts for 820 highway and bridge projects, according to a spokeswoman. Read More>>

Mississippi transportation advocates are hoping that a recent legislative proposal to form “working groups” to study state taxes and spending will reinvigorate discussions on increasing transportation funding. At a July 18 press conference announcing the working groups, Speaker Philip Gunn (R- District 56) stated that a new revenue stream for transportation infrastructure could be included in the discussions. Read More>>

At the first meeting of the state’s legislatively-commissioned transportation task force on July 12, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) declared that current funding was inadequate to address the “staggering” $12.7 billion backlog of needed road and bridge construction. The task force is expected to make its recommendations on ways to increase funding by Jan. 1. Read More>>

Missouri Department of Transportation Director Patrick Mckenna told attendees at a July 19 event that the current level of funding for the department was not sufficient to meet the state’s transportation infrastructure needs. Missouri’s transportation funding has fallen from $1.4 billion in 2009 to its current level of approximately $325 million, which is well short of necessary maintenance funding for a highway system that has total replacement costs of around $125 billion. Read More>>

 

July 22: State Transportation Funding Weekly Updates:

New Jersey Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D- District 3) and Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto (D-District 32) announced July 22 that a new agreement had been reached in the legislature to provide $2 billion annually for the state’s Transportation Trust Fund. The plan would increase the state’s Petroleum Products Gross Receipts tax by 12.5 percent, as well as create a diesel surcharge and tax on non-motor fuel petroleum products.  If approved, five tax cuts would accompany this measure. Sen. Sweeney called upon the Senate Budget Committee to reconvene next week in order to approve these amendments. Read More>>

North Dakota Director of Transportation Grant Levi announced a drop in the state’s motor fuel tax revenue while testifying before the state legislature’s interim Transportation Committee on July 21. In 2015, each cent of the state’s 23 cents-per-gallon gas tax generated $8.7 million. In 2016, that amount dropped to $7.6 million per penny, a difference of $69.2 million in total revenue generated by the state gas tax. Levi anticipates that the state department of transportation’s budget will drop from $580 million in 2016 to $470 million in 2017. Read More>>

An Indiana transportation funding task force met July 21 to begin evaluating how the state funds it’s infrastructure as well as potential methods to increase road funding. Read More>>