ARTBA: Short-Term Trust Fund Extension Would Only Delay Long-Term Solution
A cloud of uncertainty looms over plans by the Environment and Public Works Committee to pass a six-year highway bill, especially after House Republican leaders Paul Ryan and Bill Shuster introduced legislation July 13 to extend the authorization of transportation funding until mid-December.
Matt Jeanneret, senior vice president of communications for the American Road & Transportation Builders Association, expressed concern in a statement to Transport Topics that the proposed five-month extension would delay a long-term solution.
"The House proposal reinforces the difficulty members of Congress face in finding a long-term and sustainable transportation funding mechanism,” Jeanneret said. “There aren’t many couch cushions left to turn over in the hopes of finding more money. The nation’s transportation network and the economy it supports demand a long-term federal commitment as opposed to the piecemeal management that has occurred since 2009.”
ARTBA has expressed support for EPW’s efforts to pass the six-year bill, known as the Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision for the Economy Act. The bill, which would allow more than $273 billion in spending, was introduced nearly three weeks ago by a bipartisan group of senators hoping to improve infrastructure on American roads.
The same day that Ryan and Shuster had announced the short-term extension proposal, Sens.Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), chairman of EPW, and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), ranking member, thanked 31 national associations and construction trade unions for sending a letter to all senators calling for the DRIVE Act.
In the letter, the Transportation Construction Coalition said they expect an aggressive push to complete action on a full bill as the DRIVE Act received unanimous approval by the EPW Committee. The letter also criticized the multiple short-term extensions on funding to improve infrastructure that have taken place since 2009.
“The Highway Trust Fund has suffered five cash-flow crises requiring $65 billion in temporary cash infusions since 2008,” the coalition wrote. “This long-term cycle of uncertainty and piecemeal management undermines the ability of state transportation departments to implement multiyear transportation plans and discourages the private sector from making investments in new capital and personnel. … It should be clear to all by now that further short-term extensions are not optimal and past extensions have not led to a lasting solution to the HTF’s repeated revenue shortfalls.”
Ryan and Shuster said in a joint statement that the country needs a long-term plan to fix infrastructure and that the extension they proposed will give them a good chance to complete one by the end of the year.
“By providing resources through the end of the year, we can ensure construction continues while we work toward a package that could close the trust fund’s shortfall for as many as six years,” Ryan and Shuster said.
ARTBA shared the Transportation Construction Coalition’s sentiment, however, in believing that the extension would not help matters.
“We heard last summer from congressional leaders in both chambers and both parties that they needed more time to find a long-term solution as the reason for passing a 10-month extension,” Jeanneret said. “We stood ready then, as we do now, to help deliver on that goal. Two things remain clear: The nation’s highway and transit funding problem isn’t going to solve itself, and the passage of more time isn’t going to make it any easier.”
