HIGHWAY USERS JOINS
GOVERNORS IN URGING PRESIDENT BUSH TO SUPPORT RESTORATION OF HIGHWAY
FUNDING IN FY 2003
WASHINGTON, D.C. —
Joining the National Governors Association, the American Highway
Users Alliance and others have sent a letter to President George W.
Bush, expressing its "deep concern" over the projected 27 percent
decrease in transportation investments for FY 2003. The letter also
was signed by state transportation officials, broad based business
and labor groups, and transportation organizations representing
transit, engineers, and road builders.
"This is not the time
for any reduction in highway funding," the letter states. "We ask
that the Administration and Congress maintain current highway
investment."
William D. Fay,
president and CEO of The Highway Users, calls the proposed budget
cut "calamitous" for the economy and state highway programs.
"Funding cuts of this
magnitude will result in lost jobs, perhaps hundreds of thousands of
jobs over time," Fay says. "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. The cut will have serious economic repercussions just at a
time when the country is struggling to get out of a recession, and
it will be a devastating blow to our national transportation
system."
To avert disruption or
delay of vital transportation projects, the letter calls on the
Administration and Congress to resolve the budget problem as quickly
as possible: ". . . [A]s you know as a former Governor," the letter
says, "many states have transportation plans that determine
necessary projects five years in advance. Also, many state
legislatures, which must appropriate state matching funds, will
adjourn this spring or early this summer . . . [we] hope to work
with the Administration and Congress to ensure that our nation's
transportation systems, safety, and jobs are not jeopardized."
The signatories support
enactment of the Highway Funding Restoration Act (H.R. 3694 and S.
1917) which would raise highway investments to $27.7 billion in FY
2003, a level consistent with the revenue expected to be generated
by highway use taxes this year. Both bills have wide bipartisan
support.
"Congress should invest
some of the $19 billion surplus that's sitting in the trust fund to
make up the loss in funding," Fay says. "This money was paid by
people who use our highways, and it should not be collecting dust in
a bank vault. It should be used for its intended
purpose."
The American Highway Users Alliance represents
motorists, truckers, and a broad cross-section of businesses that
depend on safe and efficient highways to transport their families,
customers, employees, and products. Highway Users members pay the
bulk of the taxes that finance the federal highway program and
advocate public policies that dedicate those taxes to improved
highway safety and mobility.
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