|
|
| AASHTO Press
Release |
|
Sunny Mays
Schust
(202)
624-5800
Monday,
February 25, 2002 09:38
AM |
 |
| States Identify Impacts of $8.6 Billion
Reduction in Federal Highway Funding |
|
|
A proposed $8.6 billion reduction in federal-aid highway
funding would delay highway improvements both now and in the future,
eliminate hundreds of thousands of jobs, and hurt small businesses
at a time when the nation is struggling to recover from an economic
recession. Those are among the findings of a survey of state
transportation departments on the impacts of the potential funding
cut contained in the Administration's FY 2003 budget
proposal.
The survey, conducted by the American Association
of State Highway and Transportation Officials, indicates that the
proposed cuts will precipitate severe delays in transportation
projects ready for bid and in the pipeline, postponing needed
improvements and costing hundreds of thousands of jobs nationwide.
The survey was released Monday at a press conference by the
National Governors' Association. The nation's governors are calling
upon Congress and the Administration to sustain highway funding at
the current $31.8 billion level.
AASHTO President Brad
Mallory, Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation,
said, "With such serious consequences looming in every state, it is
essential that Congress act quickly to sustain highway funding at
current levels. This is no time to needlessly reduce our
transportation investments."
The survey, titled "Shortchanging America:
Impacts on States from an $8.6 Billion Reduction in Federal Highway
Funding," has found
that the proposed reductions will result in:
- Unacceptable
job losses;
- Substantial project delays and increased
costs, even if federal funding is eventually restored;
-
Reduced funding for local transportation and transit agencies;
- Negative effects on numerous high-profile projects across
the country;
- Additional negative financial and project
impacts due to corresponding cuts in state funding for
highways;
- Adverse effects on the states' ability to engage
in bonding and accelerated construction for projects; and
-
Increased strains on state budgets during a time when the economy
and state tax revenues are declining.
The reduction of
federal funding is a result of a negative swing in revenue-aligned
budget authority (RABA), a provision created in the Transportation
Equity Act for the 21st Century to ensure that collections to the
Highway Account of the Highway Trust Fund were fully used.
The current balance of the Highway Trust Fund is $19.3
billion. An expenditure of $2.3 billion in additional outlays for FY
2003 would sustain federal-aid highway funding at the FY 2002 level
of $31.8 billion.
Bipartisan legislation has been introduced
in both the House (H.R. 3694) and the Senate (S.1917) to restore
federal funding to at least the level authorized in TEA-21.
A
PDF version of this release is available:
![]()
xxxx
A copy of the survey, which includes
state-by-state impacts, may be found on the AASHTO web site at
www.transportation.org.
xxxx |
| |