Draft
Op-ed for Highway Funding Campaign
Highway
Budget Cuts Will Be A Severe Blow to Economic Recovery
By
__________(insert name)
The news couldn't have
come at a worse time. After months of recession, growing
unemployment, and lingering fears from the September 11th terrorist
attacks, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced that
next year's federal highway program would be slashed by $8.6 billion
— 27 percent less than this year's levels.
"For states, the losses
are nothing short of calamitous," warned William D. Fay, president
and CEO of the American Highway Users Alliance at a Senate hearing.
"Funding cuts of this magnitude will result in more lost jobs,
imposing financial burdens on tens of thousands of Americans and
their families."
What does that mean to
__________ (state)? Right off the bat, it means delays in projects
that have been on the drawing boards for years and a reduction in
jobs at a time our nation needs to increase employment. Every
billion in federal highway funding accounts for 42,100 jobs, most of
them high-paying. The cuts will cause job losses at highway
construction sites and businesses that supply construction, but also
at small Main Street businesses where construction workers spend
their pay. And, as unemployment climbs, there will be less revenue
to support the tax base of local communities.
It also means delays in
reaping the benefits of roadway improvements: the safety benefits of
reducing crashes, injuries, and fatalities; the air quality,
time-saving, and fuel-saving benefits of relieving traffic
congestion; and the economic and productivity benefits of speedier
deliveries. These benefits are the primary reasons that fuel taxes
are the taxes that Americans pay most willingly.
The federal funding cut
is the result of a complex calculation formula that was intended to
better match highway tax receipts with investment levels. But here's
the rub: the formula has resulted in a growing surplus in the
Highway Trust Fund — a surplus that now exceeds $19 billion! These
are taxes that have already been collected from America's motorists
and truckers. The $19 billion is sitting there in Washington, DC,
collecting dust!
Problem solved, right?
Congress should just take some of the $19 billion surplus that's
sitting in the trust fund to make up the loss in funding.
Unfortunately, we're talking about Washington, DC — nothing is that
simple.
Fortunately, that's
exactly the conclusion a growing number of Senators and
Representatives have reached. With strong support from governors,
highway users, and labor groups, they've introduced the Highway
Funding Restoration Act, legislation that would raise federal
highway spending to nearly $28 billion, roughly the amount of
federal fuel taxes that will be collected this year. The fuel taxes
are paid by motorists and truckers for roadway improvements, and
they should be used for their intended purpose.
Now,
the Good News . . .
The documentary
evidence is undeniable: Fuel taxes already collected from motorists
and truckers and sitting in the Highway Trust Fund are available to
remedy the funding shortfall. Roadway investments save lives by
preventing crashes. They also create jobs, stimulate the economy,
clean the air, and speed commutes and product deliveries by reducing
traffic congestion. President Bush has said that his economic policy
can be summed up in one word: jobs!
That evidence presents
a pretty strong case to enact the Highway Funding Restoration Act!
American motorists and truckers pay taxes for road and bridge
improvements, and they should get what they're paying for. Congress
should act now to make the investments needed to ensure a safe and
efficient national highway system.
Other messages
(Select and substitute for other paragraphs depending on the Op-ed
length allowed by the publication):
The Cost of Losing
One's Job to Families and Society. Funding cuts of this
magnitude will result in lost jobs, perhaps hundreds of thousands of
jobs over time. Far too many of those jobs will be lost before the
fiscal year even begins as contractors begin laying off workers in
anticipation of the project delays that will inevitably follow.
These are high-paying jobs that induce many other jobs. Such
dramatic changes in employment would increase the call of federal
unemployment compensation funds and other social programs, as well
as cut the flow of tax dollars from those affected families and
individuals. In 1984, Congress' Joint Economic Committee released a
study of the social effects of losing one's job. It paints a dire
picture of personal financial hardships, loss of health insurance,
and rising mortality, divorce, criminal activity, and suicide.
Quoting from that study, "The longer [joblessness] endures, the more
likely it becomes that frustrations will be vented on the family —
or on the rest of society."
The Life-Saving,
Time-Saving, Fuel-Saving, Economic and Environmental Benefits of
Road Investments. A 27 percent reduction in funds will delay the
important benefits of roadway improvements — the safety benefits of
reducing crashes, injuries, and fatalities; the air quality,
time-saving, and fuel-saving benefits of relieving traffic
congestion; the economic and productivity benefits of speedier
deliveries. But those benefits are only realized if their tax
dollars are used as intended.
In 1999, The Highway
Users published a study identifying the worst traffic bottlenecks in
the country and the benefits that could be realized by improving
traffic flow at those sites. Unclogging America's
Arteries: Prescriptions for Healthier Highways showed that
very modest traffic flow improvements at each of our 167 worst
bottlenecks would result in 287,000 fewer crashes over 20 years,
including 1,150 fewer fatalities and 141,000 fewer injuries; they
would reduce carbon monoxide emissions by 45 percent and volatile
organic compound emissions by 44 percent, while carbon dioxide
emissions would fall by 71 percent at those sites; they would slash
fuel consumption by nearly 20 billion gallons; and of course, they
would reduce travel time by an average of 19 minutes per trip. With
polls showing that time management is one of the greatest challenges
facing American families today — 38 minutes less for a commuter
driving to and from work represents more time for family, work,
errands, and recreation. That's an example of the "big bang for the
buck" that this program has the potential to deliver, but too little
funding will delay these large, critically important projects for
years. That's why this debate over 2003 funding is so important to
us.
$19 Billion in
Motorist Taxes Just Sitting in Washington. America's highway
users have a strong case to make for additional highway funding
above the guaranteed amount. Unlike funding claims from other
interest groups: the money for highways has already been collected.
According to the Administration's budget, the Highway Account of the
Highway Trust Fund will have a cash balance of more than $19 billion
at the end of this fiscal year. All of today's cash balance — every
dime — is money previously paid by motorists and intended for
improvements to our nation's roads and bridges. If Congress were to
increase the 2003 obligation limitation by a full $8.6 billion to
bring us up to this year's level, the cash balance in the Highway
Account would only be reduced by approximately $2.3 billion in FY
2003. That would leave more than $15 billion in the account as you
consider funding levels and other issues in the reauthorization
legislation.
Before TEA21, interest
was accrued on surpluses in the Highway Trust Fund. This interest
was ridiculed by some members of Congress as "funny money" that
wasn't really owed to highway users. As a condition for establishing
a link between revenues and investments, TEA21's framers agreed to
eliminate all but $8 billion of the previously existing cash balance
in the Highway Account and to stop any further interest payments to
the account. As a result, since TEA21's enactment, not one penny of
that $8 billion or subsequent additions to the trust fund surplus is
attributable to interest payment transfers from the General
Fund.
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