U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
U.S. Rep. Don Young,
Chairman
Justin Harclerode (Communications Assistant)(202)
226-8767
To:National
Desk/Transportation Reporter
December 10,
2001
Criticized By Bipartisan
Leadership of Transportation Committee;
“No
Transportation Appropriations Act Has Ever Cut State Highway Formula Funds &
Shown Such Disregard For The Existing
Law”
The $423 million cut in highway funds was criticized in a letter to all
435 members of the U.S. House signed by:
- Rep. Don
Young (R-Alaska), Chairman, House Transportation & Infrastructure
Committee
- Rep. Tom
Petri (R-WI), Chairman, House Highways & Transit
Subcommittee
- Rep. James
Oberstar (D-MN), Ranking
Democrat, House Transportation Committee
- Rep.
Robert Borski (D-PA), Ranking Democrat, House Highways & Transit
Subcommittee
“We regret
that the Transportation Appropriations Act has cut every state's TEA 21 highway
formula funds, and skewed the formula, to enable the Appropriators to fund more
project earmarks for the select few.No prior Transportation Appropriations Act
has ever cut the state's Highway formula funds and shown such disregard for the
existing law.”
(See below for a complete
text of the letter and a listing of the highway funds cut in each of the 50
states.)
(Click here for more
information on Highway Funding Cuts.)
A $423
million cut in TEA 21's State Highway Formula
Funds!
Last week, the House overwhelmingly approved H.R. 2299, the
FY2002 Transportation Appropriations Act. Given that the conference report was
filed less than two hours before it was brought to the House Floor for
consideration and the only publicly available copy was incomplete, only a
handful of Members had any idea what was in the Act. Today, we write to shine a
little light on the Transportation Appropriations Act. We begin with the $423
million unprecedented cut to TEA 21's state highway formula
funds.
In October, each state received a notice from the Federal
Highway Administration (FHWA) informing it of the amount of highway formula
funds the state would receive in fiscal year 2002 pursuant to the Transportation
Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA 21). These highway formula funds make up
the core highway construction programs (e.g., National Highway System,
Interstate Maintenance, Bridge, and Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality
programs). These funds include the annual adjustment, known as revenue aligned
budget authority (RABA), to ensure that highway gas tax receipts equal funding
authority.
In an unprecedented move, the Transportation
Appropriations Subcommittee cut each state's highway formula funds. The
Act cuts a total of $423 million from the states' highway formula funds
to enable the Appropriators to fund more project earmarks for the select few. In
the near future, each state will receive a notice from the Federal Highway
Administration telling it to disregard the October 2001 notice it received
regarding its share of highway funds for fiscal year 2002 provided under TEA 21.
The bottom line of the FHWA notice will be simple - the Appropriators rewrote
the law and now every state loses, generally more than 10 percent of its
RABA funds. California loses $38 million, Texas $33 million, New York $21
million, Oregon $5 million, Georgia $15 million, Connecticut $6 million, Arizona
$8 million, Ohio $15 million . . . If your state is not listed, see the back of
this Dear Colleague to find out how much your state's highway formula RABA funds
have been cut.
Moreover, in TEA 21, one of the most difficult issues we
considered was the distribution of the highway funds among the states - the
highway formula. We worked very hard to ensure that donor states received a
minimum guarantee of highway formula funds. The Appropriators have skewed the
highway formula, through project earmarks at the expense of every state, to the
select few.
We regret that the Transportation Appropriations Act has
cut every state's TEA 21 highway formula funds, and skewed the formula, to
enable the Appropriators to fund more project earmarks for the select few. No
prior Transportation Appropriations Act has ever cut the state's Highway formula
funds and shown such disregard for the existing law.
We strongly encourage you to contact Speaker Hastert and
Democratic Leader Gephardt and urge them to work together to restore the funding
to each of our states.
Sincerely,
Don Young (R-Alaska)
Tom Petri (R-WI)
James Oberstar (D-MN)
Robert Borski (D-PA)
|
State Distribution of
Additional FY2002 Highway Funds |
|
| ||||
|
(Revenue Aligned Budget
Authority) |
|
|
|
| ||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Federal Highway
Administration |
|
|
|
| ||
|
Comparison of TEA 21 and
FY2002 Transportation Appropriations
Act* |
|
| ||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
States |
|
TEA 21 |
|
FY2002
Transportation Appropriations Act |
Difference | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Alabama |
|
$78,660,918 |
|
$70,270,303 |
|
($8,390,615) |
|
Alaska |
|
47,506,115 |
|
42,438,725 |
|
(5,067,390) |
|
Arizona |
|
71,794,955 |
|
64,136,719 |
|
(7,658,236) |
|
Arkansas |
|
50,998,628 |
|
45,558,698 |
|
(5,439,930) |
|
California |
|
357,228,521 |
|
319,088,155 |
|
(38,140,366) |
|
Colorado |
|
51,633,630 |
|
46,125,966 |
|
(5,507,664) |
|
Connecticut |
|
59,372,721 |
|
53,039,542 |
|
(6,333,179) |
|
Delaware |
|
18,097,567 |
|
16,167,133 |
|
(1,930,434) |
|
Dist. of
Col. |
|
15,517,870 |
|
13,862,608 |
|
(1,655,262) |
|
Florida |
|
187,841,638 |
|
167,804,915 |
|
(20,036,723) |
|
Georgia |
|
141,803,966 |
|
126,677,998 |
|
(15,125,968) |
|
Hawaii |
|
20,042,262 |
|
17,904,391 |
|
(2,137,871) |
|
Idaho |
|
28,813,232 |
|
25,739,778 |
|
(3,073,454) |
|
Illinois |
|
129,699,234 |
|
115,864,455 |
|
(13,834,779) |
|
Indiana |
|
91,837,217 |
|
82,041,110 |
|
(9,796,107) |
|
Iowa |
|
46,752,049 |
|
41,765,094 |
|
(4,986,955) |
|
Kansas |
|
45,442,357 |
|
40,595,104 |
|
(4,847,253) |
|
Kentucky |
|
68,342,130 |
|
61,052,200 |
|
(7,289,930) |
|
Louisiana |
|
61,436,479 |
|
54,883,163 |
|
(6,553,316) |
|
Maine |
|
20,796,328 |
|
18,578,021 |
|
(2,218,307) |
|
Maryland |
|
64,532,116 |
|
57,648,593 |
|
(6,883,523) |
|
Massachusetts |
|
71,715,580 |
|
64,065,811 |
|
(7,649,769) |
|
Michigan |
|
126,563,909 |
|
113,063,570 |
|
(13,500,339) |
|
Minnesota |
|
57,110,525 |
|
51,018,651 |
|
(6,091,874) |
|
Mississippi |
|
50,720,814 |
|
45,310,518 |
|
(5,410,296) |
|
Missouri |
|
90,924,402 |
|
81,225,663 |
|
(9,698,739) |
|
Montana |
|
40,640,152 |
|
36,305,141 |
|
(4,335,011) |
|
Nebraska |
|
31,472,305 |
|
28,150,666 |
|
(3,321,639) |
|
Nevada |
|
28,932,295 |
|
25,846,141 |
|
(3,086,154) |
|
New
Hampshire |
|
19,605,698 |
|
17,514,394 |
|
(2,091,304) |
|
New
Jersey |
|
100,687,563 |
|
89,947,406 |
|
(10,740,157) |
|
New
Mexico |
|
38,735,144 |
|
34,603,338 |
|
(4,131,806) |
|
New
York |
|
197,128,548 |
|
176,101,207 |
|
(21,027,341) |
|
North
Carolina |
|
111,046,039 |
|
99,200,962 |
|
(11,845,077) |
|
North
Dakota |
|
26,630,412 |
|
23,789,795 |
|
(2,840,617) |
|
Ohio |
|
136,327,071 |
|
121,785,313 |
|
(14,541,758) |
|
Oklahoma |
|
60,722,101 |
|
54,244,986 |
|
(6,477,115) |
|
Oregon |
|
46,434,548 |
|
41,481,460 |
|
(4,953,088) |
|
Pennsylvania |
|
186,849,447 |
|
166,918,559 |
|
(19,930,888) |
|
Rhode
Island |
|
24,050,715 |
|
21,485,269 |
|
(2,565,446) |
|
South
Carolina |
|
67,429,314 |
|
60,236,753 |
|
(7,192,561) |
|
South
Dakota |
|
27,979,792 |
|
24,995,239 |
|
(2,984,553) |
|
Tennessee |
|
89,614,709 |
|
80,055,673 |
|
(9,559,036) |
|
Texas |
|
310,674,910 |
|
277,535,786 |
|
(33,139,124) |
|
Utah |
|
30,202,300 |
|
26,980,676 |
|
(3,221,624) |
|
Vermont |
|
18,375,381 |
|
16,415,313 |
|
(1,960,068) |
|
Virginia |
|
103,703,824 |
|
92,641,928 |
|
(11,061,896) |
|
Washington |
|
68,461,193 |
|
61,158,563 |
|
(7,302,630) |
|
West
Virginia |
|
41,711,718 |
|
37,262,406 |
|
(4,449,312) |
|
Wisconsin |
|
77,986,228 |
|
69,667,581 |
|
(8,318,647) |
|
Wyoming |
|
28,178,230 |
|
25,172,507 |
|
(3,005,723) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
TOTAL |
|
$3,968,764,800 |
|
$3,545,423,946 |
|
($423,340,854) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
*Federal Highway Administration table provided as
technical assistance. |
|
| ||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|