Gov. Signs $6B Transportation Bill for Va. Roads

RICHMOND – The tense final days of Virginia’s legislative session have led to a landmark $6 billion transportation funding bill, which was signed this week by Gov. Bob McDonnell.

The governor praised the measure as a bipartisan effort 27 years in the making – as the last time state lawmakers put a major investment toward roads was in 1986. In the bill, lawmakers decided to find a new way to finance transportation in the state by converting the 17.5-cent gas tax into a wholesale tax, raising the state sales tax to 5.3 percent and committing more existing revenue to be spent on road needs. To that end, the car title tax will be raised and transportation will also get money from anticipated internet sales tax revenue.

The measure will generate separate funding in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads to pay for priority projects in those areas.

In response to criticism from fiscal conservatives, McDonnell said frustration is commonplace with any such compromise. “There will be something in this bill that everyone does not like.”

Sales tax is much more responsive to the ups and downs of the economy. This is a good transition for Virginia and a major milestone for a state that has struggled putting a package together for a long, long time. TW

Oregon House Panel OK’s Road Usage Charge Bill

State legislators have determined the rate for a new road usage fee for highly fuel efficient vehicles, allowing the measure to move on to the next committee.

House Bill 2453 requires drivers whose vehicles get 55 miles per gallon of gasoline or better to pay a tax after 2015. If drivers do not want to track their miles, they could opt to pay a flat amount annually. The flat rate would be $542.50 annually, compared to 1.55 cents per mile otherwise, as determined by the House Revenue Committee.

Since creating a task force in 2001, lawmakers have been looking to establish a new revenue system to offset the declines in gas tax revenue due to more fuel efficient vehicles and alternative fuel sources. The new per-mile tax would bring money to state roads.

The state’s gas tax is currently 30 cents per gallon, but vehicles such as electric cars avoid paying that because they don’t use gasoline.

The measure advanced from the House Revenue Committee with a 6-3 vote amid opposition from some House Republicans.

“The folks of Oregon are not willing to accept the responsibility of paying for that which they use absent an incredibly clear case,” said Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario, who voted against the bill because he said the concept was not ready to move forward.

Under a pilot program for the per-mile charge, participants were able to track their miles through a smartphone application, GPS, or other non-GPS reporting devices.

By 2021, there will be an estimated 69,618 vehicles affected by the new road usage fee.

Illinois DOT Secretary Urges Rejecting 70 mph Speed Limit

The head of transportation in Illinois is trying to keep speeds down in the state, as a bill making its way through the General Assembly would raise speeds from 65 to 70 mph through most interstate highways and tollways in the state 65 to 70 mph.

Illinois Department of Transportation Secretary Anne Schneider is doing her best to stop lawmakers from approving the faster speed limit.

“The higher the speed limit, the more likely you are to be in a crash,” she said. “And if you’re in a crash, the more likely you are to be killed.”

Schneider said she’ll continue pushing lawmakers to reject the proposal.

“We just want to make our roads as safe as possible. We don’t want to see our fatality rates go up, and so we think it’s important enough that we have worked against raising the speed limit to 70 miles per hour,” she said.

Eight counties would have the ability to opt out of the increased speed limit.

Official Declares ‘Fighting Chance’ for 2013 Bridge Opening

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge’s $6.3 billion eastern portion “has a fighting chance” of opening by the end of the year, in spite recent structural concerns, officials overseeing the construction reported Tuesday. State lawmakers grilled officials in charge of the project and their decision to use a specific type of seismic safety rods, as 32 broke when they were tightened in March.

With the Labor Day opening threatened by the rods failure, State Sen. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord called the hearing before the state Senate Transportation and Housing Committee.

Bridge officials said further testing will be needed before they can determine if the rods need to be replaced immediately or just monitored after the bridge has been opened to traffic.

If immediate replacement is required, the scheduled Labor Day opening will most likely be pushed back. If the safety of the remaining rods can be verified by crews and the $20 million repairs to the broken ones can be completed, officials say there is still a possibility of a Labor Day opening.

Pima County Supervisors to Take Gas Tax Hike to Legislature

Officials in an Arizona County say the state gas tax needs to be increased, and they will be taking their case to the Legislature in the next session. The Pima County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 in favor of new ways to bolster the county’s transportation budget, including pushing the Legislature to pass a statewide 10-cent-per-gallon gasoline tax hike.

“You need to cast a very wide net when you approach the Legislature … proposing a dedicated funding stream on transportation,” said Supervisor Ray Carroll, adding that the county has tried every possibility to raise funding to fix its aging streets. “You never know what will hit a responsive chord.”

County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry said the county has a growing backlog of street maintenance and the county needs to increase taxes to pay for the work. A recent county report found that one of the primary funding sources – the state Highway User Revenue Fund – hit a 13-year low in revenue during the last fiscal cycle.

Two counties in California, one in Arizona and the list grows of local governments that see federal prospects for money being slim and insufficient state money to meet their needs. Watch this trend continue to grow. TW

Missouri Sales Transportation Sales Tax Dies

JEFFERSON CITY – A proposal to increase the Missouri sales tax by 1-cent to fund highway construction died on the final day of the Missouri legislative session after a Republican-led filibuster succeeded, Sen. Mike Kehoe, R-Jefferson City, told colleagues.

Kehoe’s proposal, which would have been placed on the November 2014 ballot, was withdrawn from consideration Friday. Voters would have decided on the sales tax to fund $8 billion in transportation projects.

Joe Carmichael, Chairman of the Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission, said the bill had plenty of support, but was killed by a filibuster by a few lawmakers.

“Denying the people a right to vote is not the way to go,” said Joe Carmichael. Major projects such as the 60 and 65 interchanges are not going to occur any time soon as MoDOT has had to cut nearly 20 percent of its workforce since 2011 due to low funding. “Those kinds of projects will not happen in the future because there’s simply not the money there to do it. We’ve gone to a situation in this state where we are maintaining the system. We are in a maintenance only mode,” Carmichael said.