House
committee hears testimony about infrastructure needs
Looking towards the looming federal reauthorization
of the surface transportation legislation, the US House
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee held a hearing
last Thursday that included intense comments from Chair
Rep. James L. Oberstar (D- MN).
“The
collapse of the I-35 bridge in Minneapolis on Aug. 1
served as a reminder of the critical importance of our
infrastructure. Though this tragedy directly impacted
the residents of my home state of Minnesota, aging infrastructure
is a problem not confined to one state,” Chair
Oberstar stated.
“This
collapse demonstrates the need to make a commitment
to invest in the maintenance and major reconstruction
our nation’s infrastructure. Many of the nation’s
surface transportation facilities are being stretched
to the limit of their design life and beyond.”
Other opening commentary from committee members included
these remarks from Rep. Peter DeFazio (D- OR), “The
impact of our aging network has a direct effect on Americans’
everyday lives. According to a recent study by TRIP,
23 percent of the nation’s major metropolitan
roads have pavements in poor condition, resulting in
rough rides that cost the average urban motorist $413
annually in additional vehicle operating costs.”
For
more, please visit:
http://www.landlinemag.com/todays_news/Daily/2008/Jun08/
Louisiana
legislator calls for fuel tax suspension
Talk of “gas tax holidays” continue.
In
an effort to appease constituents who are feeling pain
in their pocketbooks at each fill-up, a Louisiana state
lawmaker has offered legislation that urges a rollback
of the state’s per-gallon fuel taxes during the
peak summer travel season.
Intended
as “a needed respite from high fuel costs,”
Rep. Wayne Waddell, R-Shreveport, has proposed a suspension
of a portion of the state’s per gallon tax on
motor fuels for four months. The state is encouraged
to suspend collection of 16 cents per gallon collected
on fuel purchases from July 1 to Oct. 30.
The
state’s per-gallon tax rate on gas and diesel
is 20 cents. How the tax holiday would affect the status
of the International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA) requirements
for miles driven in Louisiana is unclear.
A
fiscal note on the non-binding resolution estimates
about $152 million in lost revenue to the state’s
Transportation Trust Fund. There is no provision that
addresses how the state would compensate for the lost
revenues.
For
more information, please visit:
http://www.landlinemag.com/todays_news/Daily/2008/May08
Georgia
governor freezes fuel tax rates until at least January
’09
While
various states still are discussing “gas tax”
holidays, Georgia is actually taking action to reduce
the costs of increasing gas prices on residents.
Gov. Sonny Perdue this week signed an executive order
to suspend a scheduled increase in Georgia’s tax
collected on fuel purchases that was due to take effect
July 1. The action will result in a loss of as much
as $80 million in state revenue for roads during the
next year.
Georgia
law requires the state’s Department of Revenue
to recalculate the state excise tax and sales tax on
motor fuels every six months to adjust for changes in
prices. The excise tax is 7.5 cents per gallon with
the sales tax charged on top of that.
With fuel prices hovering around $4 per gallon across
the state, fuel tax rates were set to increase next
month. The diesel tax was slated to move up 4.2 cents
per gallon to 16.5 cents – up from the 12.3-cent-per-gallon
tax now applied.
For
more information, please visit:
"http://www.landlinemag.com/todays_news/Daily/2008/Jun08/
$1
billion bond may help transportation
Last
month a Blue Ribbon committee in North Carolina issued
a report right before a brief summer session of the
General Assembly.
The
21st Century Transportation Committee says bonds are
the best way to pay for short-term transportation improvements
this year. One of the biggest recommendations is a bond
referendum to go on ballots statewide in November for
at least $1 billion for transportation needs. Other
suggestions included: stopping the transfer of $172
million a year from the Highway Trust Fund to the General
Fund and giving local governments the authority to raise
sales taxes to help pay for local transportation projects.
It
should be pointed out that it is unclear if the legislature
will move forward with this effort as both the House
Speaker and Senate President have indicated a bond package
may need to wait until next year.
For
more information, please visit:
http://news14.com/content/politics/595718/
and
http://www.charlotte.com/204/story/656187.html
Alabama
bills that died called on taxes, bonds to fund road
work
Despite
reviewing multiple bills designed to provide assistance
with funding much needed road work in Alabama, the legislature
recently wrapped up their regular session without approving
any major initiatives.
The
first bill was intended to help replace bad bridges.
A bond issue of $275 million was sought for structurally
deficient county bridges. Funding included in the bill
would have gone for fixing 1,576 bridges with low sufficiency
ratings.
The
bond issue was part of a four-bill package. Other parts
of the package included an indexed fuel tax, local fuel
tax options, and moving the point of collection of motor
fuel taxes back from distributors to refineries. However,
at this point, each initiative will have to wait until
the 2009 Session.
http://www.landlinemag.com/todays_news/Daily/2008/Jun08/
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